Volcano aviation threat could last months: Iceland

[REYKJAVIK] Iceland said heightened alert levels for airlines may be in place for months as one of its biggest volcanoes continues to rumble, threatening an eruption and ash cloud that would menace flights across the Atlantic.

"It could be weeks and months" before the threat passes, said Melissa Anne Pfeffer, an atmospheric volcanologist at the Icelandic Met Office, which has an "orange" aviation warning in place, its second-highest level.

The volcano is now in its second week of rumbling as magma has spread to form a dike under the Dyngjujokull glacier, north of the volcano. Bardarbunga, which lies underneath Vatnajokull, Europe's largest glacier, has been rocked by earthquakes that have led to evacuations and road closures.