Elevated emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) at Vulcano volcano causes animal deaths and evacuations ordered in Eolian Islands, Italy
Sulfur emissions have been escaping from Vulcano (image: @mondoterremoti/twitter)
Due to elevated emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2) from ground and finding dead animals, a small number of families has been evacuated from the village as reported volcanologist Marco Pistolesi on his twitter account.
The volcano observatory INGV raised the alert level for the volcano to “yellow” about two weeks ago, as increase of volcanic tremor and elevated fumarolic activity has been recorded.
Courtesy of volcanodiscovery.com
Volcanic Alert Level Raised To Yellow – Elevated Fumarolic Activity At Vulcano Volcano, Eolian Islands, Italy
Elevated fumarolic activity from Vulcano observed by INGV’s surveillance cameras (Image: INGV)
The observatory Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) reported that elevated fumarolic activity in the Fossa summit crater has been detected today.
The activity is associated with increased level SO2 and CO2 emissions and temperature.
The seismic station recorded a small internal tremor related to near-continuous degassing over the past few weeks.
Based on the changes in the activity, the INGV raised the alert level for the volcano to “yellow”.
Courtesy of volcanodiscovery.com
UK weather: Storm Christoph brings ‘danger to life’ flood warnings – with snow also expected
The Met Office has warned of “danger to life” from floods, gales and snow as Storm Christoph heads to the UK.
An amber warning for rain has been issued for northern, central and eastern parts of England from Tuesday, with flooding expected, while a less severe yellow warning covers Northern Ireland, Wales, southern Scotland and the remainder of England.
Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield are expected to get plenty of rain, with up to 70mm between 6am on Tuesday and midday Thursday – and upwards of 200mm in the southern Pennines and northern Peak District.
It’s prompted the Met Office to issue a “danger to life” warning due to fast-flowing or deep floodwater and a “good chance some communities [could be] cut off by flooded roads”.
Melted snow from recent days, combined with the predicted rain, have led to the Environment Agency issuing 11 local flood warnings – all of them in eastern England and mainly in North Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
That means flooding is expected in those areas, while there are an additional 61 flood alerts in place – meaning that flooding is possible.
Katharine Smith, flood duty manager at the Environment Agency, said: “Heavy and persistent rain falling on already saturated ground with snowmelt in parts of northern, central and eastern England is expected to bring significant river and surface water flooding, and could cause damage to buildings in some communities.
“Flooding could continue to affect parts of central, eastern and northern England into Friday, with localised flooding of land and roads a possibility elsewhere across much of country on Wednesday and Thursday.”
People are being urged to stay away from swollen rivers and not to drive through flood water, as just 30cm (1ft) of flowing water can be enough to float a car.
And more snow could be on the way for some parts, as well as strong winds.
The Met Office’s chief meteorologist Dan Suri said: “As the system moves away into the North Sea on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, there will be strong winds along the east coast for a time.
“Meanwhile, colder air coming southwards into the weather system brings the risk of further snow on the back edge of this system.
“Temperatures will gradually fall across the UK through the end of the week and into the weekend bringing a return to widespread overnight frosts.”
Snow is most likely in Scotland and the North East, forecasters say, but there will be calmer conditions overall heading into the weekend.
Met Office spokesperson Nicola Maxey said: “It’s a very unsettled period as we go through the week until Friday where we see colder air from the north pushing away the low pressure, so we expect a fine cold day on Friday.”
It continues a period of unsettled weather for parts of the UK, with many seeing snow in recent weeks – some of it so severe that it has disrupted coronavirus testing and vaccination regimes.
And last month, many areas of the UK were hit by stormy conditions.
Caravans had to be evacuated and drivers rescued over the Christmas period, after parts of the country saw half a month of rainfall in one day.
Courtesy of Sky News
The Brrrrrrritish Isles: Snow-coated Britain wakes to fresh warning of ice and freezing fog after England suffers COLDEST night of winter so far with -11.1C low
Britain today awoke to a fresh warning of ice and freezing fog after England suffered its coldest night of the winter so far, with bracing lows of -11.1C recorded in the North.
Yellow weather warnings remained in place for ice across much of the UK this morning, with only southern parts of Scotland escaping the freezing conditions which are set to last until Monday.
England endured its coldest night of the winter so far overnight, with Redesdale Camp in Northumberland seeing lows of -11.1C overnight, while Scotland recorded lows of -11.6C in the Highlands.
Britons have been warned to take care on icy stretches which could lead to difficult driving conditions across much of the UK, with injuries from slips and falls also a risk amid a blast of cold air from Scandinavia and the Arctic.
Temperatures were expected to remain as low as -9C in northern parts of the UK early today, with more snow predicted to fall over the Pennines, North York Moors and the high ground of Wales, the Met Office said.
Forecasters added it will remain largely dry with sunny spells elsewhere, though low cloud and freezing fog is expected to hit parts of central and southern England throughout Saturday.
It follows heavy snowfall which hit much of the UK yesterday, causing chaos on the roads as cars overturned, emergency service vehicles skidded off the road, and motorway traffic ground to a halt.
The Met Office warned that some areas of northwest Scotland could experience flooding over the weekend due to heavy rain which is expected to move across the region on Sunday.
Forecaster Greg Dewhurst told MailOnline the freezing conditions are pushing over the north and north east of the UK from Scandinavia and the Arctic.
The colder weather will persist until Monday, he said, when temperatures are expected to reach 11C in the south of England.
He said: ‘We are looking at generally dry weather across England, but there is a risk of icy patches this morning.
‘Scotland will see a cold start with sleet and hill snow eastwards, it will be a cold day for many with temperatures reaching 2C to 4C across the country. However, it will be milder in the northwest with temperatures of 7C to 8C.’
The cold temperatures will persist overnight on Saturday and into Sunday, with widespread frost and icy stretches expected again, alongside more patches of freezing fog.
‘Overall, staying cold is the main theme for the weekend with fog and icy stretches,’ Mr Dewhurst said.
Heavy snowfall hit much of the UK on Friday, causing chaos on the roads as cars overturned, emergency service vehicles skidded off the road, and motorway traffic ground to a halt.
Britons were told to remain cautious when venturing out into the hazardous conditions brought by the cold snap on Friday, which forecasters have warned could be the precursor to a dump of snow and strong winds from Siberia of the kind last seen during 2018 when the memorable Beast from the East struck.
Although all of the UK is under strict ‘stay at home’ orders – with exceptions such as for essential work – to stem the spread of coronavirus, drivers were warned to be careful on the roads as temperatures plummeted.
The A1 in County Durham was yesterday brought to a standstill with motorists enduring hour-long tailbacks because of problems caused during the snow, including a stalled truck.
Gritters, snow ploughs and salt-spreaders were on the roads early on Friday morning to try to make the tarmac as safe as possible. Drivers in the North East were told to only take to the roads if absolutely necessary as the weather caused huge logjams.
Highways England tweeted: ‘We are currently monitoring heavy snowfall which is causing disruption in the area of County Durham. Traffic officers and gritters are out patrolling the area. With delays reaching 60 mins on the A1M southbound we are advising drivers to only travel if essential.’
In nearby Otterburn, Northumberland, a lorry skidded round a tight bend and crashed through the barriers. It is pictured coming to a rest tilted slightly to one side on a steep bank, while part its front damaged.
Thames Valley Police, which covers Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire, said: ‘Please take extra care when driving this morning as some roads could be icy. If you’re driving this morning, please fully de-ice your car windows, adapt your driving to the conditions, keep well back from vehicles in front, and leave extra time for travel.’
Surrey Police warned that just because the roads have been gritted it ‘does not ensure that they are entirely ice free! Drive safely and be aware that black ice on roads is possible.’
The cold snap comes as the same conditions that brought snow storms three years ago are said to be forming again high up in the atmosphere.
The ‘sudden stratospheric warming’ (SSW) event happens when the temperature in the stratosphere soars by 50C (122F). This ‘reverses’ Britain’s wind pattern, from the warmer west out in the Atlantic to the east – and Siberia.
It can take two weeks for the effects of a SSW to be felt. This was the case in February 2018 with the infamous Beast from the East, which saw much of the UK gripped by travel chaos and school closures amid heavy snow.
The cold spell saw temperatures in parts of Britain drop as low as -10C and brought snow to much of the country. The weather was so cold in Brecon Beacons national park that an entire waterfall froze solid.
Sixteen people died in winter-related deaths, including a seven-year-old girl from Loos, Cornwall, who was hit by a car that slid on ice.
Dr Richard Hall, an expert in SSWs from the University of Bristol, said it ‘loads the dice’ or ‘tips the odds’ in favour of another blast of heavy snow and sub-zero temperatures from Siberia.
A study by experts at the Universities of Bristol, Exeter and Bath shows how dramatic meteorological changes above the North Pole can have severe consequences for the weather in the UK.
During an SSW the stratosphere – the layer six to 31 miles above the Earth’s surface – can increase in temperature by up to 50C over a matter of days.
This disturbance can travel down through the atmosphere to the Earth’s surface and cause shifts in the jet stream, the fast-moving air currents that cool Europe.
UK experts studied 40 stratospheric warming episodes from the last six decades in the latest study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
Dr Hall said an SSW happens ‘every two years in three’ and one is ‘taking place at the moment’. In 2018 there was an SSW event two weeks before the ‘Beast from the East’ brought 50cm (20in) snowfalls.
However Dr Hall said only two thirds of SSWs reach the surface and the current one could ‘just peter out’.
He added: ‘The main area of impact is over Siberia where you get intense cold and that then extends westwards toward Europe. We are right on the edge of this and so slight variations can affect if it reaches us.’
The phenomenon, which in Britain usually leads to cold periods, begins 30km (18 miles) into the atmosphere in the high altitude jet stream, which usually flows from west to east, bringing relatively warm and wet air from the Atlantic into the UK.
A disturbance hits the jet stream, pushing its waves down towards the Arctic and reversing the stream from east to west. As the air is compressed over this region, it begins to warm.
This leads to high pressure over the North Atlantic, blocking the usual flow of mild air that flows into Britain from the west.
Instead, colder air from the east is sucked over the British Isles, resulting in colder temperatures.
Courtesy of dailymail.co.uk
UK COLD WEATHER LEVEL 2/3 YELLOW/AMBER ALERT ISSUED
SEVERE UK YELLOW/AMBER ALERT
UK COLD WEATHER LEVEL 2/3 YELLOW/AMBER ALERT ISSUED
***BE ALERT***
Alert Level raised to Yellow at Korovin Volcano in Andreanof Islands, Aleutian Islands
The Alaska Volcano Observatory (AVO) reported that the alert level for the volcano was raised to “yellow”, as an increase of seismic activity and sulfur dioxide emissions has been recorded.
The instruments record volcano-tectonic earthquakes over the past two weeks associated with sulfur dioxide (SO2) deggasing detected on 15, 20 and 26 October.
AVO will continue to monitor the volcano for signs of volcanic activity.
Courtesy of volcanodiscovery.com
Storm Ellen: 50,000 to remain without power overnight as new weather warnings issued #StormEllen #PowerOutages #FallenTrees #Ireland
At least 50,000 homes, farms and businesses will be without power overnight due to Storm Ellen, as two new Status Yellow wind and rain warnings have been issued.
At one point 194,000 premises were without power, but crews have worked overnight and throughout the day and power has now been restored to around 144,000 customers.
However, the ESB said this evening that 50,000 would be without services overnight and crews would mobilise at first light to help the remaining affected customers.
More than 1,800 individual faults have been reported since early morning.
The majority of those affected are in Cork, with power outages also experienced in Tipperary, Westmeath, Longford, Sligo, Roscommon and Leitrim.
ESB Networks Operations Manager Derek Hynes said Storm Ellen was the third biggest storm the ESB has had to deal with in recent years, the biggest being Storm Ophelia on 16 October 2017, but it is the first major one to occur at this time of year.
Mr Hynes more crews will be deployed as soon as it is safe to do so and customers should check the ESB’s website for more information.
The south and west of the country experienced the full force of Storm Ellen, which brought heavy rain along with severe and destructive winds.
Cork County Council officials said it had more than 50 reports of fallen trees across the county during the night and many roads are in a perilous condition with the large amounts of debris on them.
The council’s acting Director of Services said emergency crews faced treacherous conditions overnight as they tried to access fallen trees, including along the N25 Cork to Waterford road and the N22, the main road to Killarney.
Jim Molloy said that while trees have been cleared on major routes, drivers should take extreme caution and watch out for debris on the roads, especially in east Cork, where a Status Yellow wind warning remains in place.
Gusts of 143km/h were recorded at Roches Point in Cork at 11pm.
Meanwhile, Met Éireann has issued three Status Yellow warnings.
A rainfall warning for the entire country came into effect at 9am and will be in place until 5am tomorrow, with heavy squally downpours and thunderstorms forecast, bringing a risk of spot flooding at times.
A wind warning for Dublin, Louth, Wexford, Wicklow, Meath, Cork, Kerry and Waterford is in force since 5pm today until 5am tomorrow.
Very strong winds are forecast with severe and damaging gusts and a continued risk of coastal flooding.
A separate wind warning has been issued for Carlow and Kilkenny and is valid from 10pm until midnight tonight.
Courtesy of rte.ie
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