Iceland volcano eruption prompts new Foreign Office travel warning for UK tourists
The Foreign Office have issued a new warning to all holidaymakers travelling to Iceland following a volcanic eruption which took place with little warning earlier this week.
A volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland erupted unexpectedly for the seventh time in a year on Wednesday, November 20, and led to major evacuations - including from the Blue Lagoon tourist resort.
Although common in Iceland due to the country's natural geography, UK tourists have been urged to adhere to the latest advice issued by the authorities in the event of an eruption or wider seismic activity.
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In an update on Thursday (November 21), the Foreign Office stated: "Recently there has been a series of volcanic eruptions on the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland, the latest on 20 November. These have affected the town of Grindavik and the area to the north of it.
"Keflavik International Airport and the road to it is unaffected and operating normally. The capital city, Reykjavik, and the rest of Iceland is not affected by these recent eruptions."
Travellers have been advised that further eruptions in the location is "likely" as local media should be closely monitored for updates.
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"The Government of Iceland monitors any seismic and volcanic activity closely and infrastructure is robustly designed, but not all events can be anticipated and can pose risks to your travel plans including travel delays and cancellations due to rock falls and landslides, sudden flooding and poisonous volcanic gases near eruption sites," it continued.
As we reported previously, the eruption created a fissure around 1.8 miles long which started around 11:14pm. Gas emissions are the main danger, leading to an alert being issued by authorities and evacuations including from the famous Blue Lagoon tourist resort.
According to Iceland's meteorological office that tracks seismic activity, the volcanic activity is estimated to be marginally smaller than the previous eruption in August.
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