Disaster recovery was no match for natural forces as an erupting volcano in Iceland blacked out the FDDI ring around the island last week.

When Volcano Loki, named after the lame trickster figure in Nordic mythology, erupted under a glacier last month, the authorities moved fast to attempt to protect roads, but the fibre-optic link has succumbed to the ensuing floods.

A spokesman for the Icelandic government in Rejykavik said: ?The flood following the eruption really did mean a part of the system went down but it goes all the way round the island.? She said that the nature of the cable meant that the northern part of Iceland took the strain, although it will take some time for the ring system to be reinstated.