Iceland volcano erupts; no disruptions to air travel reported

After weeks of earthquakes and warnings, a volcano in southwestern Iceland, on the nation’s Reykjanes peninsula, at last erupted on Monday (Dec. 18), prompting lava and fire to spew high into the air and illuminate the sky, reports say.

According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), the eruption began at around 10 p.m. local time following an earthquake around an hour earlier.

The IMO says the eruption fissure is about four kilometres long and located about three kilometres north of the fishing town of Grindavík, which is about 50 kilometres southwest of Reykjavik. 

The small town of some 3,000 people has been under an evacuation order for the past month.  

READ MORE: Iceland volcano “unlikely” to cause travel chaos: scientists, tourism board

The region is also home to Blue Lagoon geothermal resort, a popular tourist attraction, which closed Nov. 9 as a safety precaution.

The spa, which includes Silica Hotel, Retreat Spa, Retreat Hotel, and the Lava and Moss restaurant, had just reopened to guests on Sunday, but announced Tuesday that it was temporarily closing again due to the eruption.

“All guests with confirmed bookings in the upcoming days will be contacted,” reads a statement posted to the spa’s website.

According to the New York Times, volcanologists initially feared that the eruption posed a threat to now-cleared towns and a geothermal power plant in the area.

READ MORE: Threat of volcanic eruption rocks Iceland, Blue Lagoon spa closes

However, a later assessment concluded that the situation was not as severe as originally thought, even if the eruption is larger in size than scientists anticipated. 

“The eruption is not expected to impact additional populated areas,” the Government of Iceland wrote on its website on Monday, noting that the lava-filled event, currently, does not present a threat to human life.

This is the fourth eruption since 2021 in the area, and the largest so far with an initial fissure opening of four kilometres, the government said.

The area is closed to traffic while responders and scientists assess the situation.

The government is also advising people to not approach the area for their own safety and in order not to disrupt traffic and responders.

No immediate disruptions to air travel

What does the eruption mean for air travel?

Iceland sits just above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic. With 32 active volcanoes, it averages an eruption every four to five years.

The last disruptive one was in 2010 with the explosion of Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed thick ash into the sky, cancelling some 100,000 flights – and impacting around two million people – across Europe over fears that the ash could damage aircraft engines.

This latst eruption, however, isn’t expected to bring the same level of chaos.

“There are no disruptions to flights to and from Iceland and international flight corridors remain open,” the Icelandic government said Monday night.

Speaking to the Daily Mail last month, Professor Matt Watson of Bristol University's School of Earth Sciences called the eruption of 2010 “an unusual set of circumstances.”

“It was on a glacier which threw up a mixture of water and ash in weather conditions which were unfortunate in terms of travel,” Watson told the outlet.

The Reykjanes volcanic system appears to be different in nature.

“There may be no impact to aviation”

The situation remains fluid, however, and meteorologists aren’t jumping to conclusions just yet.

In a media statement, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said the Reykjanes eruption is still evolving.

“Although it does not appear that this volcano, given preliminary information, is likely to have a major impact on air travel as of now, any volcanic ash cloud sent into the atmosphere can cause portions of air space to be reconfigured or even closed, resulting in flight cancellations or delays,” Porter said. “If little to no volcanic ash is lofted into the atmosphere, there may be no impact to aviation, which would certainly be a gift to holiday travellers.”

“People who are travelling to and from Europe over the coming days, especially around the busy Christmas holiday, should monitor ongoing developments related to the Iceland volcano closely.”

If anything, winds could potentially project ash in the direction of other nations, such as Northern Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Belarus northeastward to Russia, from Wednesday into Friday, noted AccuWeather, an international weather broadcaster that's based in the U.S.  

Visit Iceland, the country’s tourism board, says volcanic eruptions are typically confined to a specific, localized area.

In regards to the Reykjanes eruption, “the possibility of air traffic disturbance cannot be entirely ruled out,” the tourism board wrote on its website last month.

However: “Scientists consider it an unlikely scenario.”

The tourism board reminds travellers that there are currently 46 volcanoes actively erupting around the world without any significant disruption to international air traffic.

The Government of Canada’s own travel page, as of early Tuesday morning, showed no warnings of heightened risk for Iceland, advising travellers to take “normal security precautions.”

For the latest on volcanic activity in Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, click here. 

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