Will the Iceland volcano erupt again? Aviation alert raised following new emission near Bardarbunga

Iceland has issued a new aviation alert following a small eruption close to the Bardarbunga volcano.

 

Lava was emitted from the volcano in the Holuhraun lava field, about three miles north of the vast Dyngjujoekull glacier, at 6am this morning.

 

In response, the aviation warning code was raised to red and airspace in the area was closed up to 6,000 feet. Red is the highest level of alert, and indicates that significant emissions are “likely”. 

 

However, no volcanic ash was detected and the Civil Protection Department said all airports remained open.

 

This is the third eruption to be recorded in the area over the last week, and a similar fissure on Friday resulted in the restriction of flights.

 

Today's eruption was more intense than Friday's, with around ten times the amount of lava ejected, but Iceland's met office described this most recent event event as a "very calm lava eruption and can hardly be seen on seismometers".