After nearly two months of increased seismic activity on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula, a volcanic eruption finally occurred late Monday night in Sundhnúkagígar. This marks the fourth eruption in the area in the last three years.
As of Tuesday afternoon (local time), the Icelandic Meteorological Office reported that “the size of the volcanic eruption at Sundhnúksgígar continues to diminish.” A fissure about two and a half miles long contained about five eruption vents from which lava flowed at an original pace of hundreds of cubic meters per second.
Video from Chef José Andrés, whose World Central Kitchen—which “prepares and serves fresh, nourishing meals to communities impacted by natural disasters and during humanitarian crises”—was already on location shows what the scene looked like Monday.
According to Visit Iceland, the international airport in Keflavík is functioning normally and all flights are currently operating on schedule. “The impact of volcanic eruptions tends to be limited to specific, localized areas near the eruption site. Notably, previous eruptions in the area did not impact air travel to and from the country,” it said.
In addition, AccuWeather Chief Meteorologist Jon Porter said, “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 cancelations or delays. 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 travelers. People who are traveling to and from Europe over the coming days, especially around the busy Christmas holiday, should monitor ongoing developments related to the Iceland volcano closely.”
Should the ongoing eruptions result in a volcanic ash cloud, wind patterns suggest it could affect travel to Northern Germany, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Poland and Russia. AccuWeather meteorologists continue to stress that this eruption appears far different in location and characteristics from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in 2010.
After closing November 9, Blue Lagoon was slated to reopen December 17, but the volcanic activity caused it to again push back its opening, now scheduled for December 27, “at which point the situation will be reassessed.” All guests with bookings in the coming days will be contacted.
For the latest information, visit www.visiticeland.com.
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