PM Gonsalves to address the nation shortly.

1. At approx 8:42am an explosive eruption at the La Soufriere volcano occurred. The ash plume extended virtually to about 10 km. A pilot departing Canouan reported ash plume up to 25,000 ft heading eastward.

2. Prof. Robertson - Overnight the volcano went into continuous tremor (shaking constantly). At about 8:37am the amount of shaking increased and by 8:41 - the explosion.

3. Reports of ash clouds of reaching 20-50 miles east of SVG

4. Possible to have more explosions. The first one was not necessarily the biggest one.

5. Most of the ash will stay in the northern part of the country but this is dependent on the wind direction.