A volcano has erupted in Iceland. What do I need to know ahead of my trip?

20.12.2023 - 08:59 / lonelyplanet.com

​In this series, Lonely Planet's team of writers and editors answers your travel problems and provides tips and hacks to help you plan a hassle-free trip. This week, Icelandic travel writer Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir from Reykjavík brings us up-to-date on the volcanic activity in Grindavík and how it could impact travelers.

Question: I am due to travel to Iceland next month. We had to reschedule our trip following the earthquake in November and now with the volcano this week. Is there anything I need to be aware of?

Eygló Svala Arnarsdóttir: Quite a bit has happened since the earthquakes in November. Following weeks of tremors, a magma channel had formed beneath Grindavík, prompting the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management to evacuate the fishing town and the surrounding area, including the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal pool.

On Monday, December 18, a volcano erupted at Hagafell, minutes outside of Grindavík, catching the authorities off-guard. The Blue Lagoon had just reopened and Grindavík residents had started to return to their homes. Now the National Police Commissioner of Iceland has upgraded the preparedness level for Civil Protection from 'Alert' to 'Emergency' and told the public not to approach the area. The authorities have also closed all nearby roads. Here's everything you need to know.

The Icelandic volcanic eruption is a fissure eruption, a linear vent from which lava spews out. Part of the Fagradalsfjall volcanic system on the Reykjanes peninsula. this is the fourth such eruption in the area since 2021.

Before that, there hadn't been an eruption in the Reykjanes UNESCO Global Geopark area, a major plate boundary along the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, for more than 800 years. Experts now believe that the peninsula has entered a prolonged phase of seismic and volcanic activity. They think regular eruptions could continue for decades, even centuries.

The Icelandic Met Office has said that the volcano has a 2.5-mile (4 km) crack in it. They believe that the lava flow rate is 100–200 cubic meters per second (roughly 26,415–52,835 US gallons). That's more than a swimming pool full of lava being spat out every second. However, the Met Office has since said that the intensity of the volcanic eruption has started to decrease.

"The fact that the activity is decreasing already is not an indication of how long the eruption will last, but rather that the eruption is reaching a state of equilibrium," they have said.

Yes. At the time of writing, the volcano in Iceland is still erupting. The website Livefromiceland.is has a dedicated Iceland volcano live cam where people can Fagradalsfjall erupt.

The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management had evacuated Grindavík and the surrounding