Iceland volcano 2024: Is it safe to travel and is the eruption affecting flights?

19.03.2024 - 01:11 / euronews.com / Rebecca Ann Hughes

A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the fourth time in three months, with this being the most powerful so far.

The eruption began just before 8.30pm local time on Saturday and it is ongoing, but scientists say it is likely to be petering out.

Hundreds of visitors were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon thermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions, when the eruption began, national broadcaster RUV said.

The eruption site is a few kilometres northeast of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 50 kilometres southwest of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik. Residents of Grindavik were told to leave their homes.

Despite lying just 20 km north of the eruption site, Keflavik International Airport - Iceland's main international airport - remains open and flights are still arriving and departing. The roads around Grindavik are closed, however.

If you are planning on travelling to or from the affected area, here are the full details on advice from European governments and airlines.

Iceland’s Meteorological Office says the eruption opened a fissure in the earth about 3 kilometres long between the mountains of Stóra-Skógfell and Hagafell.

The Met Office said Sunday that lava was flowing south and southeast at about 1 kilometre an hour, and might reach the ocean. Defensive barriers have been built to stop it inundating the main road along the peninsula’s southern coast. These are so far holding.

The Grindavik community was previously evacuated in November following a series of earthquakes that opened large cracks in the earth between the town and Sýlingarfell, a small mountain to the north. 

Before the recent eruptions, the Svartsengi volcanic system north of Grindavik had been dormant for around 780 years. The volcano is just a few kilometres west of Fagradalsfjall, which was dormant for 6,000 years before flaring to life in March 2021.

Icelandic authorities declared a state of emergency in November after hundreds of small earthquakes shook the Reykjanes Peninsula - the island nation’s most populated region. 

“This is not a tourist attraction and you must watch it from a great distance," Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management, told national broadcaster RUV.

Yet the spectacular natural phenomenon is hard for people to resist. “It’s just [like] something from a movie!” said Robert Donald Forrester III, a tourist from the United States.

For local residents, the emotions are mixed. “The town involved might end up under the lava,” said Ael Kermarec, a French tour guide living in Iceland. "It’s amazing to see but, there's kind of a bittersweet feeling at the moment.”

Despite concerns over the impact the eruption will have on travel, nearby Keflavik Airport remains operational.