On May 3 2010, the UK's BBC One Scotland showed Volcanoes, Planes & the Truth, an excellent documentary on the recent volcanic eruption in Iceland.
The programme was very ably presented by BBC Scotland news anchor Sally Magnusson, daughter of Magnus Magnusson, returning to the land of her forefathers to investigate what Iceland's volcanoes may yet have in store for us.
The programme could not have aired at a more appropriate time.
Volcanic Ash Once Again Grounds Scottish and Irish Flights
On Tuesday May 4 2010 volcanic ash once again caused problems in the skies over Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In an update issued at 6.30 am on this date, NATS advised that a heavy concentration of volcanic ash would mean more no-fly zones being imposed over the west of Scotland and Northern Ireland. As before National Air Traffic Services are being advised by the British Met Office.
Volcanoes, Planes & the Truth
Shown the night before the renewed problems caused by the volcanic ash drifting down from Iceland, Sally Magnusson brought viewers a fascinating programme.
Speaking fluent Icelandic, she interviewed ordinary Icelanders as well as Iceland's president, scientists and officials of Iceland's Civil Protection Department, which successfully evacuated the local population shortly before the first volcanco erupted.
All of those interviewed by Sally Magnusson say it is not a case of if the much larger volcano Katla erupts, but when.
Katla is One of the Most Dangerous Volcanoes in Iceland
So says Iceland on the Web, further explaining that Katla is 1493 metres in height. In Volcanoes, Planes & the Truth, Sally Magnusson took viewers to Katla. Despite its height, the volcano is invisible, covered as it is by a massive glacier which extends to 40 square miles or 600 square kilometres.
Sally Magnusson further explained that Katla means kettle in Icelandic and is always referred to as she.
Historical Evidence that Eruption of the Two Volcanoes is Connected
The Icelanders have excellent historical records and accounts of volcanic activity taking place on their geologically fascinating island.
On average Katla erupts once or twice a century, tending to do so after Eyjafjallajoekull, the one which is currently continuing to cause trouble, has blown.
Katla last erupted in 1918, so is now overdue for a further eruption. As shown in the programme, Iceland's vulcanologists, other scientists and officials are concerned enough to have closed public access to the glacier which covers Katla. It is currently only accessible to scientists.
Eye Witness Accounts of the Last Eruption of Katla
Sally Magnusson had the luck to find an elderly couple who remember Katla's last eruption and who have lived close by the volcano and the glacier above it for 72 years.
Olafur Petursson is 100 years old and was a boy of 9 when Katla last erupted back in October 1919. He remembers that the eruption started on a clear and sunny day.
His wife Thorunn Bjornsdottir, now 98, was only 7 when Katla erupted. She recalled in the BBC Scotland programme that an old woman pointed out a few days before the eruption began that the oil lamp hanging from the ceiling kept shaking. "Katla is coming," the old woman said.
Mrs Bjornsdottir also said: "I was so scared then and I don't want to see Katla again. This ash fall (meaning the most recent one) was like nothing compared to Katla. This was just like a thin covering of snow. It didn't remind me of Katla at all."
Warning of Massive Disruption When Katla Next Erupts
In her programme, Sally Magnusson interviewed Iceland's President, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson. He has been accused of scaring people by talking about when Katla will next erupt. However, he insists that he has "almost a moral duty" to warn other countries that what we have seen so far may be only "a small rehearsal of what will happen" when Katla blows.
Although President Grimsson says this may not be for another 20 or 30 years, he advises other countries to plan now to work out how they will cope as regards air and other transport of people, food and goods when the volcanco does next erupt, which will be "sudden and without warning."
Forget About Iceland's Volcanoes at our Peril
Sally Magnusson rounded off her programme in which she talked about "the ominous boiling of Iceland's kettle" with a warning from Iceland's Civil Protection Department.
"The day to start planning is not the day that the emergency starts. The day to start planning is now."
