A volcano in south-west Iceland erupted on Monday night following weeks of earthquake activity that caused a 10-mile long fissure in a road and put the country in a state of emergency.
Lava is spewing from the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula at a rate of up to 200 cubic metres per second, according to the country’s Meteorological Office which noted that was faster than any eruption in the region in recent years.
A ‘‘fountain’’ of molten rock had broken through a crack which the Met Office said had ‘‘grown rapidly’’ late on Monday night.
By midnight, the lava had coloured the night sky orange: