Thousands of people have been evacuated in Iceland after a huge volcano in the South West erupted overnight.
The Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has declared a state of emergency and one of the country's most popular tourist attractions, Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, has been closed.
After weeks of volcanic activity, the eruption begun late last night on the Reykjanes peninsula, as lava burst out of the volcano, sending plumes of ash into the air.
The Icelandic Met Office said the eruption was located about 2.5 miles north-east of Grindavik, with the seismic activity moving towards the town.
A huge volcano has erupted in Iceland
Reuters
Iceland's foreign minister Bjarni Benediktsson reassured residents on X, formerly Twitter, that there are "no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland", and international flight corridors "remain open".
He added: "The jets of lava are quite high, so it appears to be a powerful eruption at the beginning".
Detailing the latest updates on the volcanic eruption, Weather Journalist Nathan Rao warned of a "crack" in the volcano, spanning 3.5km.
Rao highlighted that Iceland has been on "high alert" for volcanoes since November.
Rao explained: "At the base of this volcano, a 3.5 kilometre crack has formed and that is looking to expand.
"So we'll be looking again to see how this lava flows from that volcano over the coming hours and of course any ash cloud.
Reuters
"Apparently this was visible from Reykjavik, which is about 40 kilometres away."
Rao also revealed that there have been "hundreds" of eruptions in recent months, leading up to this much larger eruption.
Speaking of Iceland's seismic activity, Rao told GB News: "Iceland is a very, very seismic place. We are on literally on the cusp of the Eurasian plate and the North American plate, so they get a lot of volcanic earthquake activity over there.
Nathan Rao details the latest volcanic eruption in Iceland
GB News
"The authorities have been watching this because it's been rumbling for the last few weeks and actually before this volcano erupted last night, the Icelandic Met Office put out a warning saying this thing may blow and it did. So they have been watching this for volcanic activity.
"It's not unusual seismic activity within this part of the world. As I said, they're sitting on tectonic plates. Hence why places like the Blue Lagoon are so popular because you know seismic, you know, this is this is what what makes the Hot Springs and things.
"However, this has now erupted and of course we'll be looking at things like aftershocks."
