UK updates travel advice for Iceland after volcano erupts again
The North Atlantic island nation is on high alert after glowing orange lava spewed across the Reykjanes Peninsula and smoke belched into the sky.
People were evacuated from the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa resort, and the nearby fishing town of Grindavik in the early hours of this morning, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said.
Now, holidaymakers ae wondering if it's safe to travel to Iceland right now — or whether they'd be safer to reschedule their trip.
The Foreign Office updated its guidance on travel to Iceland first thing this morning.
Fuel your wanderlust with our curated newsletter of travel deals, guides and inspiration. Sign up here.
It warned of a 'series of volcanic eruptions' in the southwest of the country, and told travellers to follow the advice of local authorities.
It's worth noting that because the Foreign Office has not advised against travel to Iceland, you won't qualify for a refund if you decide to cancel your trip.
Travel insurance is unlikely to help, either. Insurers will argue there is no reason not to go.
Reykjavik's Keflavik airport is open and flights appear to be operating normally.
As of 8:30am on Wednesday, several regional Icelandair flights are due to arrive and depart in the next two hours.
We'll keep an eye on FlightRadar and update this article if anything changes.
The iconic Blue Lagoon, a five-star geothermal spa that's popular with British tourists, is closed.
The resort doubles as a hotel with 60 rooms, plus a Michelin star restaurant and a private lagoon for VIPs.
It has been forced to close many times over the past four years, when seismic activity restarted in the Reykjanes Peninsula.
In May last year, barriers were erected around the site and in the town of Grindavik in a bid to protect communities from magma.
Recently, quite common.
Iceland, which is often referred to as the land of ice and fire, has recorded a dozen volcanic eruptions since geological systems on its Reykjanes Peninsula reactivated four years ago.
So far, the Reykjanes eruptions have not posed a threat to the capital Reykjavik, nor have they caused air traffic disruptions, unlike the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano. More Trending
You might remember that one: planes were grounded across Northern Europe and parts of the Mediterranean as far south as southern Spain for almost a week.
Due to increased seismic activity, Grindavik has become a ghost town.
The fishing spot was home to almost 4,000 people before an evacuation order was issued in 2023. Today, it is largely deserted because of the threat of earthquakes and lava flows.
MORE: The 7 things I wish I knew before attending Europe's biggest Pride
MORE: Wizz Air axes flights from massive Middle East hub forcing customers to rebook
MORE: Multiple holidaymakers struck by lightning on Florida beach with one critically injured
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
8 hours ago
- Telegraph
The 21 best restaurants in Porto
An indication of the blossoming food scene in Portugal is that, for the first time last year, Michelin dedicated a guide to the nation alone, rather than combining its restaurant offerings with Spain as before. To underline their increasing faith, Porto was rewarded with another two-star restaurant, bringing the total of stars in the city up to 10. But it is not only the fine dining scene creating culinary excitement. There are plenty of young chefs opening innovative, ingredient-led restaurants and many of them in Porto seem to be women; something to be championed. All our recommendations below have been hand selected and tested by our resident destination expert to help you discover the best restaurants in Porto. Find out more below, or for more Porto inspiration, see our guides to the region's best hotels, bars and things to do. Find a restaurant by type: Best all-rounders Best for families Best for cheap eats Best for fine dining Best for walk-ins Best all-rounders Cozinha das Flores London-based Nuno Mendes weaves his culinary magic here to a keen crowd, creating his own niche between Michelin-starred cuisine and bistro fare. Dishes are powerfully authentic, with perfect flavours and an evident respect for ingredients. Start with a few fun snacks like doughnuts filled with spider crab or the turnip nata, Mendes's sublime take on the much-loved traditional Portuguese custard tart (filled with turnip and topped with caviar). Vegetarians will also love the celeriac heart cooked in embers with a Bolognese of smoked beetroot. All served in cosy interiors before an open kitchen and fire beyond.
Times
8 hours ago
- Times
It's last orders for the onboard bar. Flying is no fun any more
Flying used to go something like this. Turn up at the airport, perhaps slurp a cheeky beer at Gatwick's Red Lion before you board. Switch your smartphone to flight mode, knowing you have a few hours' reprieve to watch something brain-dead like Mission: Impossible without being pestered. Listen intently for the rattle of the in-flight trolley, which still has the ability to reduce me to a panting Pavlovian dog (just me?). And if I'm flying in premium, a discreet slope off to the onboard bar once the seatbelt sign has been switched off. This long-conditioned ritual at 37,000ft skidded to a halt this month. Virgin Atlantic — our 'fun' airline to the more sensible British Airways — said it would axe its beloved bars by 2028; the space will instead be used for more premium seating called 'retreat suites'. It also said it would introduce free Starlink wi-fi across its fleet by the end of 2027. Blame sober Gen Z obsessed with wellness, blame squeezed airline margins, blame our hyperconnected world. I'm dismayed — and thirsty. I have fond, and squiffy, memories of in-flight bars. One of the most ridiculous flights I've been on was — no surprise — a Virgin service to New York for 2019's World Pride, staffed entirely by LGBT crew. The DJ Jodie Harsh took over the bar on the Airbus A330 and we passengers, giddy on gin miniatures and mini pretzels, jumped around to Spice Up Your Life somewhere over Newfoundland. It's hard to imagine that kind of stunt today. Other times it's more prosaic. These extra social spaces — installed on all Virgin aircraft at great expense — are an escape valve from your seat, particularly if you're flying long haul. That there are gin and tonics and delicious little bags of crisps and sweets on tap is neither here nor there. 'We have loved the bar, but we have a new vision for social spaces: the retreat suites, the private space built for sharing and socialising,' Virgin Atlantic said. Meh. Onboard bars still do exist, but increasingly limply. The Gulfies, including Emirates, Qatar Airways and Etihad, all offer social spaces only on their monstrous Airbus A380s, but on the few times I've sneaked in they have been pin-drop quiet. When I flew on the weird Global Airlines inaugural flight in May — the founder's aim being to take the airline back to the golden age of flying — I spent a lot of it propping up the SkyPub on the upper deck of the A380. Qantas's A350 aircraft, which it uses for ultra-long-haul flights from London to Australia, instead have a 'wellbeing zone' for stretching and hydrating … and not the fun kind. The advent of free onboard wi-fi is a further dent to the in-flight experience, forcing us to stay connected to the ground. Lots of airlines, like British Airways, offer free wi-fi to their premium passengers and members of their loyalty schemes. Others, like JetBlue and Air New Zealand, offer it to everyone, regardless of cabin. Other carriers are trialling streaming entertainment straight to your phone — which I guess is fine and perfectly logical. But, but, but. I spend my life looking at my phone — is it too much to ask to stare at a slightly bigger screen to watch some mindless guff for a few hours? The sky is the last sanctuary we have. Rhys Jones, aviation editor of the frequent-flyer website Head for Points, agrees that 'it's a shame to see the bar go'. He adds: 'It was part of what set Virgin Atlantic apart. Without it, Virgin will lose a little bit of its sparkle. That said, I understand why it has made this decision: attitudes have changed and competition has become cut-throat. Increasingly we are seeing airlines maximise every square foot of space on board planes and, unfortunately, the bar just simply didn't pay its way.' I think I speak for a lot of frequent flyers when I say: one for the road?
Scottish Sun
15 hours ago
- Scottish Sun
The retro model theme park that was like a ‘mini wonderland' – here's what it was like to visit as a child
Plus, Universal's UK theme park plans have dropped – here's what you can expect including nightclubs and film studios DOWN SIZED The retro model theme park that was like a 'mini wonderland' – here's what it was like to visit as a child A FORMER amusement park in Bournemouth used to be home to "Europe's largest model landscape" with Big Ben and a mechanical Tower Bridge. The model village of Tucktonia opened back in 1976 and included an array of different landmarks such as Admiralty Arch, Hadrian's Wall and Stonehenge. Advertisement 6 Tucktonia opened back in 1976 and included an array of different landmarks such as Admiralty Arch, Hadrian's Wall and Stonehenge Credit: Alamy 6 Located in Bournemouth, Tucktonia used to be home to "Europe's largest model landscape" Credit: Alamy 6 Some of the models were even mechanical including Tower Bridge which opened and closed Credit: Alamy Some of the models even moved, including Tower Bridge, which opened and closed to allow boats to pass through. A model of an airport also was mechanical with planes actually travelling along the runway. But the model village didn't just feature big landmarks, it also had a Cornish village, Kellogg's factory and a motorway flyover. At the time, the attraction was dubbed "the best of Britain in Miniature", according to an advert for the destination. Advertisement One woman, Emma Cansdale from Waltham Abbey used to visit regularly as a child. The 52-year-old told Sun Travel: "As an eight-year-old it was like a mini wonderland. "Back then I loved the quaintness of model villages and miniature railways. Emma added: "I remember it was a hot summer day spent following the map to find the different attractions and eating ice cream." Advertisement Across the village, there were over 200 models made from fibre glass and steel and it cost £2million to develop - about £13.5million now. The attraction took two years in total to plan and build. Best of British: Bournemouth's beach and vibrant city life is the perfect getaway And for little ones, there was Railriders club - which Emma was part of. "One of the reasons we went to Tucktonia was to pick up a sticker for my Railriders sticker book as they were participating in that scheme," Emma added. Advertisement Old maps of Tucktonia Leisure Park that Emma has, show what featured at the 21acre site. And it wasn't just the model village - it also had a number of other attractions including fairground rides, a fun slide, boating lake, an amusement arcade, crazy golf, a go-kart track and a mini cinema. One leaflet even claims the park was home to "Europe's largest model landscape". Another poster claims it was "the greatest model Britain in the world". Advertisement 6 There used to be a number of other attractions too including fairground rides Credit: Emma Cansdale According to Dorset Life, some famous faces made appearances at the park too. Comedian and magician Tommy Cooper and actor Jon Pertwee visited in 1978. Keith Chegwin and Maggie Philbin also hosted the BBC's Multi-Coloured Swap Shop live from the park. Advertisement Then in 1985, it was used as a film set for the alien movie Lifeforce - a sci-fi horror by Tobe Hooper, who also created The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Some believe that a number of the models were destroyed as part of the filming, whilst others claim that whilst the village was used as a set, the buildings destroyed in the film were actually different models created by the visual effects team. 6 Emma used to visit as a child and remembers it well Credit: Emma Cansdale In 1980, Alton Towers opened and many believed that this immediately had an impact on the number of visitors at Tucktonia. Advertisement In the following years, the park changed ownership more than once and then in 1986, the park closed - just a decade after the model village had first opened. The site's buildings and fixtures were then all cleared to make the land available for a pub. In 2003, the site then transformed again into a number of retirement flats and homes. One fan of the park commented on social media: "What a fab place it was... Big childhood memories, very sad when it closed." Advertisement Another added: "Absolutely loved Tucktonia. As a child these places were so exciting." There is also an abandoned £118million fairytale theme park that would have been a Disneyland rival – but closed after four years. Plus, Universal's UK theme park plans have dropped – here's what you can expect including nightclubs and film studios. 6 In 1985, the attraction was even used as a film set for the alien movie Lifeforce Credit: Emma Cansdale
