Lava is spewing 50m into the air out of a 1km-long fissure. A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the fifth time in three months. Lava can be seen spilling from the Sundhnúkur crater row.
It began in the early afternoon today, 29 May, and it is ongoing. Visitors have been evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, and it remains closed. The eruption site is a few kilometres northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometres southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.
It has been evacuated. Despite lying just 20 km north of the eruption site, Keflavik International Airport - Iceland's main international airport - remains open and flights are still arriving and departing. However the airport advised passengers to "monitor flight information".
The roads around Grindavik are closed. If you are planning on travelling to or from the affected area, here are the full details on advice from European governments and airlines. Iceland’s Meteorological Office says "Intense seismic activity is ongoing on the Sundhnúkur crater row.
A magma propagation might be starting or has started, and a volcanic eruption could follow." The Met Office says lava is shooting about 50 metres into the sky from a fissure about 1 kilometre long. The Grindavik community was previously evacuated in November following a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the earth between the town and Sýlingarfell, a small mountain to the.