Iceland volcano eruption spews lava fountains 330 feet into sky – live

A volcano in southwest Iceland has erupted after weeks of earthquakes, with thrill-seekers racing to get a glimpse of the 330-foot-high lava fountains spurting into the sky.

When seismologists first detected tremors in October, fears mounted that Fagradalsfjall volcano in the Reykjanes Peninsula could blow.

Roughly 4,000 people were evacuated from the fishing town of Grindavik and the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was closed.

The eruption that finally flared around 10.15pm Monday – just 2.5 miles northeast of evacuated Grindavik – was more powerful than expected.

Now lava is flowing even closer to Grindavik – about 1.6 miles – than what officials had hoped, with a fissure not far from the Svartsengi Power Plant.

While the flow of lava is unpredictable, the Icelandic Meteorological Office says the situation isn’t as dire as many had feared.

Suðurnes police, which covers the Reykjanes Peninsula, has pleaded for people not to visit the eruption site.

Travel advice from the British Foreign Office remains unchanged and still lists the same information as it did in November.

‘While there is no current eruption, it is increasingly possible that one could occur,’ the department says.