The Sylingarfell volcano began erupting at 6am (local time) after a strong burst of seismic activity and spewed lava from a crack three kilometres north of the town of Grindavik, home to about 4,000 people.

?❗️❗️ A new eruption has started in #Iceland….

It started northeast of Sýlingarfell on the Reykjanes Peninsula just after 6 am, following an earthquake swarm in the magma intrusion north of Grindavík approximately thirty minutes earlier.

The fissure spans 3 km and channels… pic.twitter.com/xAloq7XGmd

— Volcaholic ? (@volcaholic1) February 8, 2024

According to the Meteorological Office, the eruption is in roughly the same spot as the previous one, which occurred in December.

So far there has been no disruption to air traffic.

The Blue Lagoon spa, which is particularly popular with tourists and one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions, was closed when the eruption began and visitors were evacuated to hotels, according to Iceland’s national broadcaster RUV.

Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages one eruption every four to five years.

In 2010, the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused widespread airspace closures over Europe as it spewed huge clouds of ash.