Is it safe to travel to Iceland after volcanic eruption? Your rights if you have a holiday booked
The earth is at its most restless in Iceland right now. Since November 2023 the Icelandic authorities have been monitoring seismic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik.
At least three homes have been set alight after lava from a volcanic eruption hit the fishing town of Grindavik. On Sunday afternoon, the Icelandic Met Office reported: “A new eruptive fissure opened at 12.10pm this afternoon, just north of the town. Lava flows extruded from this fissure have now entered the town.”
Grindavik is largely protected by defensive walls that were built at the onset of intense seismic activities in November.
The Foreign Office warns: “A volcanic eruption started on the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland on 14 January, north of the town of Grindavík. All roads to Grindavík are closed and you should stay away from the area.”
The 4,000 inhabitants have been evacuated as a precaution.
The location is around 10 miles southwest of Keflavik airport, a major North Atlantic aviation hub.
Yet flights are continuing to arrive and depart as normal. These are the key questions and answers on consumer rights.
Yes, assuming the international airport remains open. Operations are largely normal. Passengers on an easyJet flight to Edinburgh arrived 90 minutes late in the early hours of Monday morning, but the airline says this was due to a baggage issue.
Wizz Air flights to Warsaw and Gdansk early on Monday morning operated several hours late, but the reason is not clear.
You may be keen to leave earlier than booked, in order to guarantee your getaway, but at present you will not be able to switch flights without paying a penalty.
The Foreign Office says: “Reykjavik and the rest of Iceland have not been impacted.”
The FCDO advises travellers to check the following resources for updates:
Yes. Travellers may remember where they were in April 2010, when the Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull erupted. The skies of northern Europe completely closed to passenger aviation for almost a week.
A quarter of a billion cubic metres of volcanic ash was ejected and was carried southeast towards the UK and continental Europe by the breeze. The fear was that volcanic ash could damage jet engines and potentially bring down aircraft. In the biggest shutdown of aviation since the Second World War, 50,000 flights were cancelled and 8 million passengers had their travel plans wrecked.
More than 50,000 flights, with eight million passengers booked to travel, were cancelled.
Iceland is a country peppered with volcanic sites
So far in 2023, though, ash has not been an issue in the current geological outburst.
Thankfully, the circumstances are very different. Eyjafjallajokull erupted with a glacier on top. The addition of melting water meant that the lava cooled very quickly into tiny fragments. These were promptly propelled into the atmosphere to a height of 30,000 feet by the steam produced in the eruption.
The current eruption is not having anything like the same effect. The lava will cool and remain on the ground.
In addition, new guidelines established in the wake of the 2010 eruption allow aircraft to fly if volcanic ash is present in reasonably small quantities. Another Icelandic volcano erupted in 2011, and in that case only 1 per cent of flights in northern Europe were cancelled – rather than 100 per cent on some days in that extraordinary time.
Iceland’s Blue Lagoon has been closed as a precuation
