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DIPLOMACY: The ash cloud disrupts Obama's European tour

The Icelandic volcano Grímsvötn continued Monday spit a heavy cloud of ash, but its activity diminished, allowing the reopening of the international airports in Iceland, while the first disturbances occurred in air traffic in Northern Europe.

The UK air traffic control NATS (National Air Traffic Services) has announced that the ash cloud could reach over Scotland by 0100 GMT on Tuesday.

Consequence of these events, U.S. President Barack Obama arrived Monday evening in London, earlier than expected by its (his plane was originally scheduled landing Tuesday), after a visit to Ireland.

"Following predictions (presence) of (quantities) significant volcanic ash in Scottish airspace," British Airways has decided on his side, also "a precaution", that "it does not flight between London and Scotland Tuesday (...) happens in Scotland before 2:00 p.m. (1300 GMT, ed) or part of Scotland before 14:00.

The Dutch KLM has also canceled sixteen flights between Amsterdam and the northern United Kingdom, including Scotland.

The cargo airline Loganair has suspended 36 flights scheduled between Monday and Tuesday 1700 GMT 1200 GMT, for most domestic flights in Scotland, but also some flights to Birmingham (England) and Belfast (Northern Ireland).

Similarly, the Irish Aer Lingus and Easyjet have suspended their flights to Scotland and northern England.

The force of the eruption was still considered "significant" Monday and, according peiture Arason, Icelandic Meteorological Services, "low-level winds are blowing strong (...) towards Britain, but at higher altitude they blow into the Northwest. "

The European organization Eurocontrol air safety but advised that "no closure of the airspace was expected" Monday or Tuesday out of Iceland, even though the ash cloud should of "affect" a part of the European sky .

After Northern Europe, the cloud could be heading towards the French airspace and northern Spain on Thursday "if volcanic emissions continue unabated", for its part warned Eurocontrol.

There is "no risk" that key French airspace in the next 48 hours, after "all depend," he said in this regard the French State Secretary for Transport Thierry Mariani.

While Greenland has closed a portion of its airspace, including Iceland's airspace is closed since Sunday, was reopened Monday night's four international airports and in particular the largest, the Reykjavik-Keflavik serving the capital.

A spokesman for the airport authorities Icelandic (Isavia) Hjordis Gudmundsdottir, said that only a small portion of the airspace of Iceland, situated in the south of the island in the volcano area, remains closed.

The most active volcano in Iceland since Saturday knows its most violent eruption in the beginning of a century at least, with a plume of smoke rose up to twenty miles in the early hours.

Monday, Grímsvötn known activity remained high even if the power of the eruption has decreased with a plume that was less than between 8 km and 12 km high.

The latest eruptions of Grímsvötn were short and intensive in the early hours then rapidly decreased.

The eruption that began on Saturday was very important and the area around the volcano was quickly covered with a thick layer of ash.

"The visibility Kirkjubaejarklaustur (a village about 70 km from the crater) is very limited and it is the same in the Westman Islands (Vestmannaeyjar)" south-east of Iceland, said Monday Mr.Kjartansson.

According to initial findings, the ashes thrown by the Grímsvötn are heavier and move less than those issued a year ago by another Icelandic volcano, the Eyjafjöll, whose eruption had caused the biggest closure of airspace enacted in Europe in peacetime.