The weather this week has been amazing - nice long sunny days, clear blue skies and spectacular red sunsets.
One noticeable difference for the later part of this week to other blue sky days is the total absence of the usually criss crosses of vapour trails (contrails) left by jet air craft ferrying people across Europe.
We aren't seeing any of this for a while.
But courtesy of the Icelandic volcanic eruption of Eyjafjallajokull Volcano (nope I can't pronounce it either - but you can hear it here) no aircraft can fly in pretty much most of the UK. Airports have been closed for 3 days and it looks like the volcano is still erupting and spilling ash & gas out into the UK airspace - insert Iceland joke here (at least they are back to exporting something, they didn't cripple the UK with their dodgy banks but they'll get us this time etc).
The ash is also causing spectacular sunsets bursting with red & orange and really setting the evenings on fire. We are seeing colours that could be similar to those immortalised by JMW Turner back in 1815 when he painted many scenes with amazingly vivid colours attributed to the ash that was in the sky from a volcanic eruption of that year.
Chichester Canal by JWM Turner.
I love this painting and I think that it captures a magically sunset to a greater degree that a photograph.
So enjoy the crystal blue skies - you may never see them again (unless you are back in Oz in the outback!).
