Remains of Montserrat airport destroyed by the volcano. © Daniel Shimmin
Montserrat lies in the Leeward Islands of the Eastern Caribbean, some 27 miles south west of Antigua. It has been affected seriously by volcanic activity since 1995.
About two thirds of the pre-crisis population of 11,500 left for the UK, US or other Caribbean islands, whilst those remaining relocated to safety in the previously sparsely populated north of the island. The former capital, Plymouth, is now abandoned in the island’s ‘exclusion zone’. Redevelopment has focused on the northern third of the island, which is at negligible risk from the volcano.