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A volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula is offering a spectacular lava show.
The Nordic country, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, has an eruption every four to five years.
One of the most disruptive was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull, which saw huge clouds of ash released into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
Follow the latest Iceland volcano updates on Metro.co.uk’s dedicated live blog.
But the eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula is not expected to spew so much ash into the air, leaving people to enjoy the mesmerising views.
A live feed shows molten rock spewing from fissures in the ground, some 31 miles southwest of the capital Reykjavík.
The sky above the fishing town of Grindavik and surrounding villages has turned bright orange, yellow and even purple in some areas.
A crack in the earth’s surface, which was around two miles long but continues to grow rapidly, can be observed from far away.
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Despite how dangerous it is, the natural phenomenon is hard for people to resist.
‘It’s just something from a movie!’ said Robert Donald Forrester, a tourist from the US.
But Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a scientist who flew over the site this morning onboard a coast guard research flight, warned people that this is not a tourist attraction and they must watch it from a great distance.
He added that the eruption was expected to continue decreasing in intensity but that scientists have no idea how long it could last.
‘It can be over in a week, or it could take quite a bit longer,’ he said.
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