Man watches Iceland volcano burn his house down on TV

STORY: Grindavik resident Hrannar Jon Emilsson told Icelandic media there had been an evacuation order in November over fears of an imminent eruption, which had disrupted his plan to move in into the house he was building before Christmas.

But almost a month later, Emilsson watched his home go "up in smoke".

Molten lava flows reached the outskirts of Grindavik around noon on Sunday, although the town had been evacuated earlier and there was no immediate danger to people.

The crack in the earth's surface that opened close to Grindavik on Sunday was no longer active on Monday, and lava production from the larger fissure north of the town was decreasing, a vulcanologist told Reuters.

GPS measurements showed that magma continued to move in a southern area of the corridor beneath the town, the Metrological Office said, adding that new cracks might appear within Grindavik in the next few days.

It was the second eruption on the peninsula of Reykjanes in four weeks and the fifth since 2021.