Iceland is facing a "worst case scenario", the country's police chief has said, as the Reykjanes peninsula experienced its second volcanic eruption in less than a month.
Residents of Grindavík evacuated their homes in the early hours of Sunday morning after "considerable seismic and magmatic activity" was recorded, said RÚV, Iceland's national broadcaster.
The ground level had risen by several centimetres in the days before, "pushed up by magma rising beneath", said Sky News's science correspondent Thomas Moore. "At first it opened a one kilometre gash" that stretched closer to the "thriving fishing town" than December's eruption, he continued – and "then a smaller fissure opened even closer to people's homes".
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The magma flow has "bypassed barriers" that were erected last month to protect Grindavík from a further eruption, said Sky News. Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir has described the situation as "highly serious". President Gudni Johannesson said in a post on X that "no lives are in danger" at present.
The media and emergency services assess the scene near Grindavík
Iceland has 33 active volcano systems, the highest of any country in Europe
A photographer adjusts his camera equipment as smoke billows near Keflavík on the Reykjanes peninsula
Lava is seen erupting near buildings in Grindavík, which is home to around 3,500 people
A lava flow near a road leading to Grindavík on an otherwise beautiful day
This aerial shot shows how close to Grindavík the latest eruption was
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