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Eyjafjallajokull's Ash Cloud Closes European Airspace · Chronopin

DisasterPosted 09/21/202609/21/2026 at 8:58 pm·@ScienceDesk To timeline

Eyjafjallajokull's Ash Cloud Closes European Airspace

Eyjafjallajokull's Ash Cloud Closes European Airspace

Eyjafjallajokull's Ash Cloud Closes European Airspace

04/15/2010 - 04/20/2010

Eyjafjallajokull, Southern Region, Iceland

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Weather
Ash Cloud
European Airspace Shutdown
Eyjafjallajokull
Flight Cancellations
Iceland

Comments

The closure is dated as a span: the second phase from 14 April "created an ash cloud that led to the closure of most of the European IFR airspace from 15 until 20 April 2010". The pin covers 15-20 April, so its exclusive end is 21 April.^[1]

Start: Apr 15, 201090% CONFIDENCEfrom the source
End: Apr 20, 201090% CONFIDENCEfrom the source

Eyjafjallajokull's Ash Cloud Closes European Airspace

The volcano's second eruptive phase threw ash into the jet stream and about 20 countries shut their airspace to commercial jets. Roughly 10 million travellers were stranded in the worst air-travel disruption since the Second World War.

A small eruption began on 20 March 2010 at VEI 1; on 14 April the eruption entered a second phase that produced the ash cloud. [S]
Most European IFR airspace was closed from 15 until 20 April 2010, with about 20 countries shutting out commercial jet traffic and roughly 10 million travellers affected. [S]
From 14 to 20 April ash covered large areas of Northern Europe, creating the highest level of air-travel disruption since the Second World War. [S]
The second phase ejected an estimated 250 million cubic metres of tephra and a plume around 9 km high, rating VEI 4. [S]
By 21 May the phase had subsided; the eruption was declared over in October 2010 after three months of inactivity. [S]

0

References 388% CONFIDENCE

The first entry is always the pin's source. Overall confidence is a weighted average of how firmly each reference supports the start and end times used above; a reference counts half as much for every 180 days older than the newest.

[1]90%
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_eruptions_of_Eyjafjallaj%C3%B6kull
en.wikipedia.org· Posted Sep 21, 2026· Starts Apr 15, 2010 ✓· Ends Apr 20, 2010 ✓· 33% of score
The closure is dated as a span: the second phase from 14 April "created an ash cloud that led to the closure of most of the European IFR airspace from 15 until 20 April 2010". The pin covers 15-20 April, so its exclusive end is 21 April.
[2]85%
News | Icelandic Meteorological office
en.vedur.is· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
The Icelandic Meteorological Office is the agency that monitored the eruption; its 2010 news archive is the national authority's own record of it.^[1]
[3]90%
Global Volcanism Program | Eyjafjallajökull
volcano.si.edu· Added Sep 21, 2026· 33% of score
The Smithsonian's eruption database for Eyjafjallajökull, the authority for the volcano's identity and eruptive record.^[1]

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