Volcano erupts in south-west Iceland

Image source, Icelandic Met Office

A volcano has erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula of south-west Iceland after weeks of intense earthquake activity.

About 4,000 people were earlier evacuated from the fishing town of Grindavik and the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa was closed.

The eruption started north of the town at 22:17 local time (22:17 GMT), the Icelandic Met Office says.

The region around Reykjavik has been experiencing an increase in earthquake activity since late October.

Images and videos posted on social media showed lava bursting from the volcano just an hour after an an earthquake swarm, or seismic events, were detected.

A coastguard helicopter is being sent to the area to confirm the exact location and size of the eruption, the Met Office said.

This breaking news story is being updated and more details will be published shortly. Please refresh the page for the fullest version.

You can receive Breaking News on a smartphone or tablet via the BBC News App. You can also follow @BBCBreaking on Twitter to get the latest alerts.