Smoke erupts from Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano

An eruption by Iceland's Grimsvotn volcano has put airline safety officials on alert as a billowing cloud of ash drifts toward northern Europe.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the volcano, which lies beneath the island's largest glacier, has been shooting plumes of smoke at least 11 kilometers into the air since Saturday. Weather officials are uncertain of the exact path of the ash cloud as it drifts across the continent, but they expect it to touch Scotland, Ireland and Britain by late this evening or early Tuesday.

They say the cloud could travel as far as Scandinavia, western France and Spain by later this week. But experts say the impact of the eruption is expected to be far less severe than last year's eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokul volcano.

Aviation authorities say they have shut down the island's main airport in the capital, Reykjavik, and may have to close the island's other airports. The city has been coated with ash, shutting out the daylight and covering the city's buildings and vehicles. Grimsvotn last erupted in 2004.