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Tourists and residents have been evacuated as a volcano erupted in south-west Iceland, threatening a town and popular attraction.

The volcano has been spewing lava and smoke in a fiery display of orange and red since the eruption began in the morning, creating a huge crack in the ground which has grown to 1.2km (0.75 miles) long.

Multiple earthquakes have occurred in the volcanic area throughout the day.
The volcano is close to the fishing town of Grindavik and the famous Blue Lagoon spa. A small number of people refused to evacuate the town, local media reported.

Tourists and residents evacuated as volcano erupts in Iceland

Emma Rossiter & Gabriela Pomeroy
Watch: Iceland volcano spews lava and smoke after erupting
Tourists and residents have been evacuated as a volcano erupted in south-west Iceland, threatening a town and popular attraction.

The volcano has been spewing lava and smoke in a fiery display of orange and red since the eruption began in the morning, creating a huge crack in the ground which has grown to 1.2km (0.75 miles) long.

Multiple earthquakes have occurred in the volcanic area throughout the day.
The volcano is close to the fishing town of Grindavik and the famous Blue Lagoon spa. A small number of people refused to evacuate the town, local media reported.

Grindavik resident Asrun Kristinsdottir told the BBC she fled after hearing emergency sirens early in the morning.
Living near the volcano for most of her life meant she always had bags packed and ready to go.

But this time was different, she said, because of the “earthquakes we felt constantly” as she was getting ready to leave.

The protective barriers around Grindavik have been breached, as new eruptive fissure opened a few hundred meters inside, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) reported.

Ms Kristinsdottir, who serves as president of Grindavik town council, said it was “extremely difficult” to see this activity inside the town’s safety barriers.

People had been asked to “leave the danger zone”, the region’s police commissioner Ulfar Ludviksson told Iceland’s RUV broadcaster. But he said individuals staying in “seven or eight houses there… have decided to remain in the town”.

There were fears that the town was “in danger of having lava flows entering the inhabited area”, said Rikke Pedersen from the Nordic Volcanological Centre.

A hot water pipe has broken in the northern part of Grindavík, which confirms that considerable cracking has occurred within the town, the IMO said.

However, volcanic activity eased off in the early afternoon on Tuesday.
Roads in and out of the town remain closed, but flights are currently not affected.

Thormar Omarrson runs a pizza restaurant in Grindavik that was forced to close due to the eruption.

He told the BBC he had lived in the town for 30 years but relocated with his family in 2024 after the authorities warned about the increasing risk posed by eruptions.

Leaving was “heartbreaking”, Mr Omarrson said.

“My family was born and raised there and now there community is gone.”
He said some of his friends in Grindavik had refused to evacuate: “When you live there in your home you want to be left alone in your your home.”

Most of the 4,000 residents of Grindavík left in a mass evacuation in 2023 because of the dangers of the volcanic activity.

The volcano has erupted several times since.

The length of the magma that formed on Tuesday under the crater series stretched to about 11 km (6.8 miles) – the longest that has been measured since 11 November 2023, meteorologists said.

The magma corridor extends about 3km further northeast than seen in previous eruptions

Based on current wind direction, gas pollution from the eruption will travel northeast towards the capital area, the IMO added.

The eruption, which began around 09.45 local time (10:45 BST), occurred after several earthquakes hit the area known as the Sundhnúk crater range.