Eyjafjallajokull

Eyjafjallajokull is an ice cap sitting on a volcano, rising to about 1,651 metres above the south coast plain, and it was a name almost nobody outside Iceland could pronounce until April 2010. The eruption that spring was small by Icelandic standards, but it happened under ice, which shattered the magma into fine ash, and the wind carried that ash into the busiest airspace in the world; flights across Europe were grounded for days and the disruption ran into millions of passengers. Locally the damage was meltwater floods and ash that buried farmland. The farm at Thorvaldseyri under the volcano runs a visitor centre about the eruption, made by the family who lived through it.

History

The name means "glacier of Eyjafjöll", the mountains of the islands, probably after the nearby Vestmannaeyjar. The volcano under the ice cap erupted in 920, 1612, 1821 and 2010; the eruption of 1821 began with explosions on 19 and 20 December and continued on and off for a year, and that of 2010, small for a volcano, disrupted air travel across northern and western Europe for a week (Wikipedia, Eyjafjallajökull).

What you'll find

• An ice cap on a volcano - about 1,651 metres above the coastal plain.
• The 2010 eruption - ash that grounded flights across Europe for days.
• Why the ash was so fine - magma shattered by erupting under ice.
• A farm's own account - the visitor centre at Thorvaldseyri below the volcano.

When to go

June to September for glacier trips; the mountain is visible from the road all year. Half a day.

Good to know

There is no casual route onto the ice cap - going up means a guided trip with equipment. Cloud hides the summit most days. The visitor centre is small and its film is the main content. Ash still blows off the slopes in dry wind.

Nearby

Seljalandsfoss and Skogafoss are on either side; Solheimajokull is east.

Key facts