When Katla, a volcano in Iceland, suffers a massive eruption, the ash plume heads towards Britain and northern Europe and brings chaos in its wake. It's the beginning of May and the country grinds to a standstill as planes are grounded, cars choke and power starts to cut out. Skies darken under the ash cloud and months of icy weather grip the stricken land. The utilities collapse and no-one can understand how things have got so bad so quickly - that is until Project Icarus is discovered. Emma Stamford takes on the battle for survival as people go cold and hungry and society descends into chaos. These are desperate times. Then Emma has an idea.