Volcanic ash and acid rain

[Paula]

Has anybody been following news about the volcano eruption in Iceland? It's spreading ash to the atmosphere and skies over Europe has emptied and planes kept in air ports. The met's here warned that rain water can be mildly acid since the volcano also spits sulphur and other stuff to the air. "Shouldn't pose a danger to the vegetation or people." Right. It's raining outside just now.
No one seems to know how long it lasts. Hopefully it won't last months, or our planned vacation in mid May is ruined.

[emma]

English airspace is closed. They say that Scotland may get some flights in and out tomorrow.  There are some rugby league challenge cup games in doubt tomorrow, the opposition can't get here from France.

We're being told to stay indoors if the ash starts to fall or it rains, or you smell rotten eggs (sulphur is nasty!). Thank goodness I can work from home if I need to.

[Eimi]

I wouldn't worry about the ash.  Washington state had a huge volcanic eruption in 1980 and it covered the eastern part of the state like snow... The ash didn't really hurt anyone and for the next year or two all the farms that got dusted with it had amazing crops, apparently because of all the minerals that dropped down to fertilize their soil