AccuWeather.com reports the jet stream will continue to slam the ash plume into Europe through Wednesday, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologists, but relief for the aviation crisis could come Thursday.
The jet stream winds, which extend from 10,000 feet up to 40,000 feet, show no signs of change through Wednesday. Any ash plume that is released from the Eyjafjall volcano in Iceland will continue to threaten northern Europe and the British Isles.
The ash will come in a direct shot from Iceland right into northern Europe at all levels of the jet stream, according AccuWeather.com Senior Meteorologist Henry Margusity.
"It's like a spray can of ash coming from Iceland," Margusity said. "The ash comes out of the volcano nozzle and spreads out into the atmosphere just like a spray can works."
However, according to AccuWeather.com Meteorologist Rob Miller, a big change in the jet stream pattern will occur Thursday as a storm develops in the central Atlantic Ocean.
That change in the pattern brings good news for Europe as the jet stream winds switch from the northwest to the southwest.
A southwest jet stream will clean any remaining ash plume out of most of Europe and will likely bring some relief for the aviation crisis, according to AccuWeather.com meteorologists.
The greatest risk of ash to aviation through Wednesday will be over the northern British Isles into parts of Norway and Denmark, with some risk affecting other parts of Scandinavia, the United Kingdom and Ireland, as well as parts of northern mainland Europe. There is some concern that the jet stream winds could move farther south.
The threat of volcanic ash traveling from Iceland grounded flights in the U.K. and Ireland, Scandinavia and parts of mainland Europe Thursday.
The U.K.'s Civil Aviation Authority has extended its restriction of most non-emergency flights in U.K.-controlled airspace until Saturday, 1 a.m. BST at the earliest.
Aviation authorities in Scandinavia and most of northern Europe have also restricted air travel.
The grounding of flights in reaction to this threat is creating nightmares for airline passengers across Europe and around the world.
Rather than impairing visibility, the real threat with this volcano is ash possibly affecting airplane engines and control systems.
Volcanic ash is abrasive, and can scratch windshields and accumulate in engines, which could degrade performance perhaps to the point of failure.
The Eyjafjall volcano erupted Tuesday evening (EDT) under a glacier in southern Iceland. Fears of flooding from the melting glacier immediately prompted the evacuation of up to 800 people.
By AccuWeather.com writers Gina Cherundolo and Kristina Pydynowski
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