DPA
Copenhagen
Iceland’s weather service said a spectacular volcanic eruption in the country’s south-west has come to an end after almost three weeks.
“The volcanic eruption that began on July 16 has now come to an end — for the time being,” the meteorological office wrote on its website on Tuesday afternoon.
It said volcanic activity had ceased over the weekend and no activity has been observed in the craters that had formed.
The eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, south-west of the capital Reykjavík, was the 12th in the region since March 2021.
Since the end of 2023 alone, the peninsula had experienced nine so-called fissure eruptions – where lava shoots up out of elongated cracks rather than from a typical volcanic mountain.
The eruption on the sparsely populated peninsula posed no danger to people, though many onlookers gathered to catch a glimpse of the spectacle.
The weather service warned that it is life-threatening to walk on the newly formed lava as the surface crust could collapse without warning, potentially exposing red-hot lava underneath.
Even though the latest eruption is over, the office said the lava front remains hazardous and advised people to keep a safe distance.