The Icelandic volcano spewing ash into the air and disrupting air travel has become more stable. But, officials say it could continue to erupt for days or even months to come.

 

Icelandic police have banned all access a one kilometer radius around the eruption site but there are no plans to evacuate.

Video shot in the vicinity of the erupting volcano below the glacier show a massive cloud of ash engulfing the surrounding countryside, limiting visibility to just a few meters.

The Red Cross has opened mass care centers for residents and is advising people to use masks and protective goggles.

The eruption is expected to cause further flooding in the area as it melts more ice on the glacier, but on Saturday there were no signs of heavy flooding.

Kristin Thordardottir, Deputy Chief of Local Police, said, "The status of the eruption is stable, the eruption has been stable through the night, as today, and we haven't any big floods coming down."

Iceland's Meteorological Office said the volcano's cloud of black and brown ash had shrunk to a height of 5 to 8 kilometres from 6 to 11 km when it started erupting earlier this week.

Dr. Gudrun Nina Petersen, Meteorologist, said, "Well as you can see, most of the particles fall down straight by the mountain, or just south of the mountain, but the light particles that are carried by the wind, they are now going southward from Iceland. And then South of Iceland they turn towards Europe."

The ash plume floating through the upper atmosphere, carrying tiny particles of glass and pulverized rock rising from the volcano, has created air traffic chaos across Europe.

Large parts of Europe enforced no-fly rules for a third day on Saturday.

Iceland sits on a volcanic hotspot in the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and has relatively frequent eruptions, though most occur in sparsely populated areas and pose little danger to people or property.