1. © Crown copyright Met Office London VAAC The Eyjafjallajökull volcanic eruption

2. © Crown copyright Met Office ICAO IAVW London VAAC is the ICAO IAVW designated centre for volcanic eruptions in the North-East Atlantic -Iceland falls within this area of responsibility ICAO Annex 3 briefly describes the responsibilities of a VAAC to include: -Production of advisories detailing the spatial dispersion of VA -Running (and/or utilisation of output from) NWP dispersion models -Monitoring of observational data, especially satellite imagery for the presence of VA.

3. © Crown copyright Met Office ICAO Annex 3 doesn’t… ICAO Annex 3 does not: -Describe VA concentration threshold limits -Describe VA observational network requirements. LIDAR output

4. © Crown copyright Met Office The Eyjafjallajökull eruption ‘Smouldering’ for a few weeks Erupted to 35000 FT on 14 th April for 30 hours VAAC Advisories of VA for large parts of northern Europe between 15 th and 21 st April Large areas of European airspace closed Met Office tasked from 20 th April with producing supplementary (black/red) ash concentration charts by UK CAA following EU Transport Minister/Eurocontrol/EASA/engine manufacturer crisis meetings 21 st April to 23 rd May (eruption ‘paused’) occasional further incursions of low and ‘higher’ concentration ash over western Europe -Intermittent and ‘less disruptive’ European airspace closures.

5. © Crown copyright Met Office Eyjafjallajökull eruption – Met Office response Continual constructive dialogue with UK CAA and UK NATS Coordination of European LIDAR observational availability Daily VAAC tele-conferences with European NMS during European VA episodes Enhanced VA research flight campaigns in coordination with DLR and DWD Enhanced coordination with Toulouse VAAC and IMO Close consultation with WMO, ICAO, EUMETNET Prioritisation of and attendance at numerous VA related meetings and workshops.

6. © Crown copyright Met Office Future Plans Continued quantitative assessment of ash forecasts against observations and development of implementation plans for improved monitoring systems Close collaboration with IMO to improve definition/calibration of volcanic source term (MoU signed end of May) Development of forecasts of SO2 and related pollutants Development of products which sample uncertainty in the volcanology and meteorology to enable better-informed risk assessments International VA collaboration and coordination.

7. © Crown copyright Met Office Eyjafjallajökull: ‘Unusual’ Volcano coupled with ‘Unfriendly’ Meteorology