Air chaos to last weeks as even more volcanic ash belches out.

There are no signs that the disruption to European air travel is going to end any time soon.

With no sign of the eruption easing, volcanologists said ash, which is drifting in a cloud extending up from 8,000-30,000 feet and stretching across much of northern and central Europe, could disrupt flights for up to six months. Airlines cancelled thousands more flights this weekend, prolonging misery for millions of people.

Graeme Leith, who heads the Met Office's defence forecasting service, said: "This is Mother Nature. We're stuck in this phase until the volcano decides to sleep. Even if it cuts off today, which it shows no sign of doing, the ash would take another two to three days to fall out from the skies." Paul Knightley, of the forecaster Meteo Group, added that the UK could be in for "quite a prolonged spell" of problems.

One has to begin to worry about the financial implications for British airline companies as they are essentially grounded until Mother Nature grants them the right to fly again.

Even the most powerful man in the world is learning that Nature is more powerful than he is.

The cloud has prevented world leaders such as President Barack Obama attending today's funeral of Poland's late president, Lech Kaczynski.

Osterley lies to the west of London and we are all well used to the constant noise of air planes making their way to Heathrow.

The silence, at the moment, is deafening. Don't get me wrong, it's very pleasant, but it's also eerie. In all the time I have lived here I have never known the skies to be this quiet.

Behind that silence lies the misery of tens of thousands of people, stranded in places they don't want to be.

UPDATE:



As usual, I have missed the significance of what is going on. Rush explains that the volcano is actually God's response to Obama passing healthcare legislation:

You know, a couple of days after the health care bill had been signed into law Obama ran around all over the country saying, “Hey, you know, I’m looking around. The earth hadn’t opened up. There’s no Armageddon out there. The birds are still chirping.” I think the earth has opened up. God may have replied. This volcano in Iceland has grounded more airplanes — airspace has more affected — than even after 9/11 because of this plume, because of this ash cloud over Northern and Western Europe. At the Paris airport they’re telling people to head to the train station to catch trains out of France, and when people get to the train station they’re telling people, “There aren’t any seats until at least April 22nd,” basically a week from now. It’s got everybody in a shutdown. Earth has opened up. I don’t know whether it’s a rebirth or Armageddon. Hopefully it’s a rebirth, God speaking.

Thank God that Rush remains the voice of reason.

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Tags: air chaos