London Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre (VAAC)
The London VAAC is an International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) designated centre, responsible for issuing advisories for volcanic eruptions originating in Iceland and the north-eastern corner of the North Atlantic.
Hosted and run by the Met Office from its Exeter UK headquarters, the London VAAC has specialist forecasters who produce volcanic ash advisories and guidance products using a combination of volcano data; satellite-based, ground-based and aircraft observations; weather forecast models and dispersion models. The volcanic ash forecasts are provided to the standards and tolerances set by the regulator, and support decision-making by the CAA as the lead agency, NATS and airlines.
One of 9 VAACs worldwide, London VAAC provides a reciprocal back-up facility with Toulouse VAAC, operated by Meteo France.
Current Volcanic Ash products from London VAAC and Toulouse VAAC
- London VAAC: Volcanic Ash Advisory from London
- Met Office Volcanic Ash Supplementary products: Concentration charts | Annotated satellite images
- Toulouse VAAC: Issued Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAA) and Volcanic Ash Graphics (VAG)
Map of the 9 VAACs and their respective areas of responsibility
