Ash from Iceland’s Grimsvötn volcano could affect Heathrow by the end of the weekThis article titled “Ash cloud moves towards UK airspace” was written by Dan Milmo and Adam Gabbatt, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 23rd May 2011 10.04 UTCAirlines and airports have been warned to expect ash from an erupting Icelandic volcano to arrive in UK airspace by Tuesday, with the possibility that it could affect Heathrow airport by the end of the week.The safety watchdog for British airlines and airports, the Civil Aviation Authority, said today that particles from the Grimsvötn volcano could reach Scotland by midnight tonight and western England by Thursday or Friday, depending on wind direction.If airspace in western England, Ireland and the Atlantic is affected by the smoke plume transatlantic flights in and out of Heathrow could suffer delays later this week as planes are diverted around the most dense parts of the cloud.However, the Civil Aviation Authority said it was confident that a new Europe-wide safety regime introduced after the Eyjafjallajökull eruption last year would reduce disruption significantly and avoid the continental shutdown that stranded millions. Under the new operating procedures, it is understood that the effect of last year’s plume on commercial routes would have been 75% smaller.Nonetheless, some disruption is expected as airplanes divert around the heaviest parts of the cloud. According to the latest forecasts, Inverness and Aberdeen are the most likely airports to suffer disruption tomorrow, although the most accurate estimates can only predict six hours ahead.“Our number one priority is to ensure the safety of people both on board aircraft and on the ground. We can’t rule out disruption, but the new arrangements that have been put in place since last year’s ash cloud mean the aviation sector is better prepared and will help to reduce any disruption in the event that volcanic ash affects UK airspace,” said Andrew Haines, CAA chief executive.Under previous guidelines, aircraft were summarily grounded if there was any volcanic ash in the air. Now, airlines can fly through ash plumes if they can demonstrate that their fleets can handle medium or high-level densities of ash.The Met Office’s volcanic ash advisory centre will identify the density and location of the cloud, aided by satellite images, weather balloons and a radar specially installed for monitoring purposes in Iceland last year. Once those zones are relayed to airlines, they will need to prove that they can fly through them by producing “safety cases” that will include information from aircraft and engine manufacturers on the airline’s tolerance to volcanic ash.A CAA spokesman said all major UK airlines already had safety preparations for medium-density ash clouds.“We are in a much better position than last time,” he said. “Safety will still be paramount but we will be able to drastically reduce disruption compared to last time, provided there is not a huge amount of high-density ash.” The spokesman said a similar level of ash to the Eyjafjallajökull incident would not result in a mass-grounding. “It will be a different picture.” However, jets will have to divert around high-density clouds, causing delays on some routes, because no UK airline has submitted a safety case for flying through heavy ash plumes.BAA, the owner of Heathrow, Stansted, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Aberdeen airports, has convened a crisis support team to prepare for a reduction in flights, as airlines and airports await a further briefing from Eurocontrol and the UK air traffic controller, Nats. “We are working closely with the CAA and Nats in preparing contingency plans if ash enters UK airspace,” it said.Under the new ash guidelines, cloud densities are split into three levels: low, medium and high. Once the Met Office assigns a particular density of ash to a section of airspace, airlines must prove they have the safety case to fly through it. A low density cloud is 2g of ash per 10 cubic metres of air, with medium being 2g to 4g of ash per 10 cubic metres. Anything above 4g is deemed high density.The Grimsvötn volcano began erupting on Sunday, causing flights to be cancelled at Iceland’s main Keflavik airport after it sent a plume of ash, smoke and steam 12 miles into the air. Experts have said the eruption was unlikely to have the dramatic impact that the Eyjafjallajökull volcano had in April 2010.“At the moment if the volcano continues to erupt to the same level it has been, and is now, the UK could be at risk of seeing volcanic ash later this week,” said Helen Chivers, a Met Office spokeswoman. “Quite when and how much we can’t really define at the moment.”She said the weather situation was likely to be different from last year, with the wind direction set to change continuously. She added: “If it moves in the way that we’re currently looking, with the eruption continuing the way it is, then if the UK is at risk later this week, then France and Spain could be as well.”While the ash has grounded aircraft in Iceland, it is not anticipated that it will have a similar impact in the rest of Europe.Dr Dave McGarvie, volcanologist at the Open University, said the amount of ash reaching the UK was “likely to be less than in the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption”, and the last two times Grimsvötn erupted it had not affected UK air travel.“In addition, the experience gained from the 2010 eruption, especially by the Met Office, the airline industry, and the engine manufacturers, should mean less disruption to travellers,” he said.The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in south-east Iceland in April 2010 caused the worst disruption to international air travel since 9/11. Flights across Europe were cancelled for six days, stranding tens of thousands of people, and the eruption was estimated to have cost airlines £130m a day.Eurocontrol said in a statement: “There is currently no impact on European or transatlantic flights and the situation is expected to remain so for the next 24 hours. Aircraft operators are constantly being kept informed of the evolving situation.” guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogAsh cloud moves towards UK airspaceRelated posts:How to pronounce EyjafjallajoekullAsh Grounds Planes, Rest Of World Cut OffTag Cloud
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Ash cloud moves towards UK airspace
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2011/05/23/ash-cloud-moves-towards-uk-airspace
- Tags:
- iceland
- transport
- UK
- Travel
- scotland
- airline
- Airport
- volcano
- aircraft
- Europe
- United Kingdom
- business
- Edinburgh
- UK news
- News
- Article
- World news
- Dan Milmo
- Natural disasters and extreme weather
- disruption
- Airline industry
- Adam Gabbatt
- Atlantic
- Glasgow
- Air transport
- ash cloud
- aviation
- BAA
- british airlines
- heathrow airport
- smoke plume
- transatlantic flights
- uk airspace
- volcanic ash
May 23 2011, 4:09pm | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Is British theatre more highly prized abroad than at home?
The state of theatre appreciation in the UK. Possibly not as bad as made out really. Interesting to see what’s happening in Iceland and Ljubljana though it may be.
This article titled “Is British theatre more highly prized abroad than at home?” was written by Clare Brennan, for guardian.co.uk on Thursday 10th March 2011 12.40 UTC Flying out to Slovenia for a new production of Simon Stephens’s 2008 National Theatre hit, Harper Regan, I found myself wondering whether UK playwrights really are more popular abroad than at home, or if it just seems that way. Mark Ravenhill noticed this a few years ago, commenting on his own work and that of fellow writers such as Sarah Kane – two of whose plays currently feature in rep at Berlin’s Schaubühne theatre. But the phenomenon stretches further than the so-called “in-yer-face school”. Arnold Wesker, for instance, has always been performed more on the other side of the Channel; Howard Barker, seen as almost an outsider by the British theatre establishment, is revered throughout much of Europe and had a season devoted to his work at the Théâtre de l’Odéon in Paris in 2009. In the past five seasons in Slovenia alone (population two million), there have been more than 30 productions of plays by British or Irish writers – including, alongside Kane and Ravenhill, Patrick Marber, Bridget O’Connor and Alan Ayckbourn. Ljubljana’s MGL studio theatre, where Harper opened last Thursday, also features plays by Caryl Churchill and Conor McPherson (besides Shakespeare and Shelley) among this season’s 20 productions. Given the quality of so much British playwriting, its popularity is not exactly surprising. What seems curious is that once a premiere is over, a new play will have almost no afterlife in this country, yet will enjoy extended runs in other parts of the world. Harper, which was such a huge success at the Cottesloe, has been performed in Germany, Chicago and San Francisco (with productions underway or upcoming in France, Israel, Japan, Poland, Portugal, Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) but has had no other professional UK productions. According to literary agent Howard Gooding, one of the reasons for this is that, here, “the premiering theatre will have a period of exclusivity over British rights”. In other countries, such as Germany, for instance, “plays are on at many theatres all at once. You can read about a new play in a German paper and be pretty confident of it being on somewhere nearby”. The difference between the systems means that: “There are certainly instances where a new play has many German productions before its first UK revival.” It’s not just the waiting period before rights become available that holds theatres back from reviving new plays; reviews also play a role. “Once a play has been seen in London,” says Ian Brown, artistic director of the West Yorkshire Playhouse, “theatres find it all but impossible to get the work reviewed – and theatres need the reviews to sell tickets.” So far, the reviews for MGL’s Harper have been positive, which promises well for ticket sales. From my perspective, watching the final run-through and the first night was fascinating. I know the text reasonably well, having read it a number of times (at one point, it looked as if I might collaborate on it with the director Boris Ostan), and had never really liked it. For me, Simon’s dialogues made up of quasi-monologues and non-consequential exchanges (with occasional exceptions) seemed hollow. But experiencing Boris’s clear, focused vision of the play – expressed in Petra Veber’s evocative set and realised through the intensely vivid performances (especially by Jette Ostan Vejrup in the title role) – enhanced my understanding not only of the structure but, paradoxically enough, given that the performances were in Slovene, the words as well. I now find myself looking forward to Stephen’s new work, Wastwater, which opens at the Royal Court, London, at the end of this month. This is, appropriately enough, a co-production with the Wiener Festwochen (Vienna festival). It will be interesting to see how many Wastwater productions are staged in Germany and elsewhere before it is revived in Britain – if it ever is. Given that I live 200 miles away from the capital, I guess I’d better book an intercity train ticket to be sure I catch it, because the odds are that it won’t be appearing anywhere near me anytime soon.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 Published via the Guardian News Feed plugin for WordPress.
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogIs British theatre more highly prized abroad than at home?
Related posts:Theatre breaks in London Enlightenment at Hampstead Theatre and Deathtrap But will I get home again?
- Tags:
- iceland
- theatre
- UK
- stage
- production
- The Guardian
- Article
- culture
- Blogposts
- Sweden
- Alan Ayckbourn
- West Yorkshire
- Arnold Wesker
- Boris Ostan
- Bridget OConnor
- Caryl Churchill
- Clare Brennan
- Cottesloe
- Howard Barker
- Howard Gooding
- Ian Brown
- Jette Ostan
- Ljubljana
- Mark Ravenhill
- Patrick Marber
- Petra Veber
- Sarah Kane
- Shakespeare
- Simon Stephens
- Slovenia
- Theatre blog
- Vienna
March 10 2011, 7:10am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Ash Grounds Planes, Rest Of World Cut Off
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2010/04/17/ash-grounds-planes-rest-of-world-cut-off
The rest of the world remains isolated today as the volcanic ash cloud from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull eruption continues to ground nearly all flights in or out of UK airports for a third day. People are only just starting to understand the implications of this drastic shit down for the airline industries and for the wider economy, and to think twice about how reliant so many human activities have become on air freight and passenger services. If you want to get back to the UK today there are only two ways to do it – by taking to the now crowded international (eg Dover – Calais) ferry routes or through the channel tunnel by Eurostar or shuttle. @HeathrowAirport No flights arriving or departing from Heathrow until 6am tomorrow, at the earliest. Next update due at 8pm this evening #ashtag The obvious advice during this unprecedented period is not to set off without a booking, and if due to fly next week, keep checking the flight news before leaving for the airport. Nobody knows how long it will take to get everything back to normal, or how long the ash cloud will persist. The volcano is still emitting plumes of ash and the weather conditions remain stable with the dangerous (to jet engines) cloud spreading all over the UK and Europe.
For people who aren’t planning on going anywhere the skies are uniquely empty of aircraft noise and jet trails bringing a surprising tranquility to areas which don’t normally think of themselves as bothered by flight paths, and for photographers the light conditions are perceptively different, with unbroken hazy blue sky scapes. @MarinaPepper Deeply textured bird song – no deep rumbling roar or whining. Hadn’t realised how horrid Gatwick noise was even here in #Lewes #ashtag
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogAsh Grounds Planes, Rest Of World Cut Off
Related posts:How to pronounce Eyjafjallajoekull
- Tags:
- iceland
- transport
- UK
- dover
- eurostar
- airline
- Airport
- Cloud
- Eyjafjallajoekull
- volcano
- Eyjafjallajökull
- #ashtag
- aircraft
- Calais
- Europe
- ferry
- passenger
- weather
April 17 2010, 2:18am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
How to pronounce Eyjafjallajoekull
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2010/04/15/how-to-pronounce-eyjafjallajoekull
Airports all over the UK have been closed by a volcanic ash cloud spreading from Iceland where a volcano has erupted. The fragments in the ash cloud are said to represent a serious threat to airline engines, so the closures however inconvenient, are on safety grounds, starting with Scotland and now affecting London’s Heathrow Airport as well. But how do you pronounce Eyjafjallajoekull?
Thanks for subscribing to Andy Roberts blogHow to pronounce Eyjafjallajoekull
No related posts.
- Tags:
- iceland
- transport
- UK
- scotland
- airline
- Airport
- Airports
- ash
- Cloud
- Eyjafjallajoekull
- pronounce
- volcano
April 15 2010, 4:10am | Comments »
-
I posted to distributedresearch.net
Can Countries go Bankrupt?
http://distributedresearch.net/blog/2008/11/04/can-countries-go-bankrupt
The IMF has a $250 billion bailout fund for use in emergencies to lend to countries that could go bankrupt, but this is not enough to cope with today’s mounting crises so some of the rich oil producing states are being asked to contribute to an extension fund. Ukraine accepted a 40 billion dollar loan from the IMF to avoid bankruptcy, Romania is currently negotiating and Iceland has already taken drastic measures after the collapse of its financial sector. Belarus and Hungary are also on the critical danger list but the UK and Switzerland have serious national debt and currency problems as well. Iceland has enough natural resources to survive in some way outside of the global financial system but The UK should be especially worried, as one of the main importers of goods in Western Europe. UK national borrowings also tend to be in other currencies so the debt balance will almost certainly increase as the pound sterling weakens against both the dollar and the euro, after printing and lending out huge sums of money to avert the banking and finance sector crisis. When Gordon Brown the UK prime minister went to tell the Eurozone leaders how to restructure their banking industries along the lines of the UK model this appeared as a great act of economic statesmanship, but I bet Sarkozy and Merkel had a quiet word in his ear about the UK ditching the pound and joining the euro zone eventually. The big question would be at what rate? The present rate doesn’t look too great, having fallen from 1.5 Euros to the Pound down to 1.25 over the past year or so, but as the financial crisis gets worse over the next few months the worsening terms could end up looking look more like a collapse and rescue operation rather than a dignified merger.
Posted by Andy Roberts Can Countries go Bankrupt?
November 4 2008, 7:52am | Comments »
1
