Volcanic ash is made of small rocks, which can cause huge damage, especially to engines where it can settle into clumps of rocks. This can cause damage to vehicles with engines when rocks get trapped

Long-lasting climate change

The volcanic eruptions would cause long-lasting changes to the Earth's climate.

While we usually associate volcanoes with being hot, the huge amount of ash and gas released into the atmosphere would actually lower the temperature globally.

Dr Watson said: 'The initial injection of sulphur dioxide, converted to small particles called aerosols in the presence of water, would reflect sunlight back out into space. This would cool the planet significantly, potentially even to get to ice-age like conditions.'

However in the longer term, we could see a reverse effect with temperatures rising.

Dr Watson added: 'Over hundreds of years, carbon dioxide released by volcanoes might heat the planet up, noting that currently, mankind is producing between 50 and 100 times as much carbon dioxide as volcanoes.'