Home
Weather Dublin
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Reporter on the scene: Imminent eruption threatens Iceland

10:38
15 November 2023

Reporter on the scene
Imminent eruption threatens Iceland

With fears of an imminent eruption, our weather reporter Marco Kaschuba is on the ground in Iceland.

On Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of the capital Reykjavik, a volcanic eruption is highly likely in the near future.

According to volcanologists, it is only a matter of hours or days before the eruption begins. Because the danger zone is also in populated areas, a state of emergency has been declared.

The 3700 residents of Grindavík who were fully evacuated, were allowed to return to the evacuated town for a short time on Tuesday November 14th to collect personal belongings.

Residents of the evacuated town were allowed to return home briefly to collect personal belongings.
Residents of the evacuated town were allowed to return home briefly to collect personal belongings. - © Weather & Radar

Every car was checked, but not every resident was allowed into the town because the crowd was so large. There was a long traffic jam with a wait of several hours. In Grindavík itself, each household was only given five minutes to complete tasks.

However, on Tuesday afternoon when they arrived, there was another new alarm and the area had to be completely evacuated once again. The reason for this was a high level of sulphur dioxide in the air, caused by volcanic gases.

Earthquakes caused by the rupture of rock layers

In recent weeks there have been thousands of earthquakes in the area. The tremors are caused by the movement of magma, which has been collecting in a kind of storage chamber at a depth of four to five kilometres for about two and a half weeks.

To make more room, magma pushes itself through cracks and crevices in the rock, which repeatedly breaks open. This breaking up of the rock layers can be felt as an earthquake.

If the magma reaches the earth's surface somewhere during these processes, the volcanic eruption begins. However, it is difficult to specify the exact time period that this may happen.

The exact location can also only be roughly estimated. The magma on Iceland is currently around 500 metres below the earth's surface.

Magma channel directly beneath Grindavík

The magma channel currently runs directly beneath the town of Grindavík and is around 15 km long. It is also possible that the magma will initially move sideways towards the coast and that the eruption could even take place under the sea.

Over 24,000 earthquakes in one monthread more
Weather & Radar editorial team

More on the topic

From late summer to storm warnings. Contrasts in Europe. . Weather Videos. Thursday 29 October 2026
Split image: On the left, the temperature radar for Spain and Portugal shows readings of up to 28 degrees. On the right, waves crash onto a flooded beach dotted with parasols and sun loungers amid stormy weather.
Weather VideosThursday 29 October 2026

Contrasts in Europe

From late summer to storm warnings
Severe weather risk in the Mediterranean. Turkey and Greece. . . Tuesday 27 October 2026
Weather map showing low pressure over the Aegean Sea, blue rain bands across Greece and Turkey, and heavy rain and thunderstorm warning symbols.
Tuesday 27 October 2026

Turkey and Greece

Severe weather risk in the Mediterranean
A final October collection. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 1 November 2026
Split image showing fog covering seafront gardens and terraced houses beside a bright full moon above orange sunset clouds and silhouetted trees.
Sunday 1 November 2026

Your weather - Your shots

A final October collection
All weather news

This might also interest you

Flooding, gales, and heavy snow. Storm Chandra. . . Tuesday 27 January 2026
Split image showing aerial flooding in a town with muddy water covering roads on the left, and a rural road on the right blocked by heavy snowfall with vans stopped and a person walking in snow.
Tuesday 27 January 2026

Storm Chandra

Flooding, gales, and heavy snow
Long-term trends need a pinch of salt. 40 °C in July?. . . Tuesday 30 June 2026
Temperature radar of 2022 heatwave where the all-time temperature record in the UK was set. Warning symbol overlain.
Tuesday 30 June 2026

40 °C in July?

Long-term trends need a pinch of salt
Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan. Up to 1,000 mm of rain. . Weather Videos. Wednesday 8 July 2026
The image shows an intense tropical cyclone over the western Pacific, east of Taiwan and the Philippines. The centre of the system is depicted as a light purple and white vortex with a clearly visible eye, surrounded by a ring of red and orange areas indicating the strongest wind speeds. A white arrow marks the typhoon’s predicted track towards the north-west, in the direction of Taiwan. To the west of the storm lie the Philippines, with the cities of Manila and Cebu; to the north of these lies Taiwan, with Taipei. Further west, the Chinese coast, including Hong Kong, and parts of Vietnam can be seen. The coloured wind map shows predominantly green areas outside the storm’s core, indicating significantly weaker winds. White streamlines illustrate the typhoon’s anti-clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest wind speeds are concentrated around the eye of the cyclone.
Weather VideosWednesday 8 July 2026

Up to 1,000 mm of rain

Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwitteryouTubelinkList