Gas pollution could hit Iceland’s capital after a volcano began erupting on Monday evening. The eruption can be seen from Reykjavik.
The eruption, which broke out on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland, comes after weeks of intense earthquakes and tremors.
Fumes could reach the densely capital of Reykjavik by Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning.
About 4,000 people were evacuated last month from Grindavik, a fishing town threatened by the lava flow.Iceland has been braced for volcanic activity for weeks. Since late October, the region around Reykjavik has been experiencing an increase in earthquake activity.
The smell of smoke and ash is being picked up as far as 30km from the eruption site.
An eyewitness in the capital told the BBC that half of the sky in the direction of the town was „lit up in red” from the eruption, and smoke could be seen billowing into the air.
In 2010, a volcanic eruption caused an ash plume to rise several kilometres into the atmosphere, leading to several days of air travel disruption in Europe.
Volcanologist Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya told the BBC that there would not be the same level of disruption as 2010, as these volcanoes in south-west Iceland were „physically not able to generate the same ash clouds”.
Speaking from Iceland, Dr Ilyinskaya, associate professor of volcanology at Leeds University, said local people had been both „fearing and waiting for” the volcano to erupt.
She added that authorities were preparing for potential lava flows that could destroy homes and infrastructure, including the Blue Lagoon, a popular tourist destination.
„At the moment it seems not to be threatening, although it remains to be seen,” she said.
The Icelandic Met Office said at 12:30 GMT on Tuesday that the power of the eruption was decreasing, but that gases from the volcano could still reach Reykjavik.
Iceland’s foreign minister, Bjarni Benediktsson said on X, formerly Twitter, that „there are no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland, and international flight corridors remain open”.
„The jets [of lava] are quite high, so it appears to be a powerful eruption at the beginning,” he went on.
Police have warned people to stay away from the area, reports the BBC.
The length of the crack in the volcano is about 3.5km, with the lava flowing at a rate of around 100 to 200 cubic metres per second, the Met Office said, adding that this was many times more than recent eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula.
