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
New heatwave in southern Europe. Up to 45 degrees in Spain. . . Tuesday 21 July 2026
Split temperature map showing extreme heat across Spain on the left and Greece on the right, with temperatures reaching 44°C near Murcia, around 40°C in parts of Greece, and a large thermometer icon highlighting dangerous heat.
Tuesday 21 July 2026

Up to 45 degrees in Spain

New heatwave in southern Europe
Rain returns to end dry spell in places. Jet stream delivery. . . Thursday 23 July 2026
Split weather graphic showing widespread showers across the UK and Ireland on the left, and a wind forecast map on the right with a windsock icon and gusts of 25 to 35 mph, highlighting breezy conditions across the two countries.
Thursday 23 July 2026

Jet stream delivery

Rain returns to end dry spell in places
A wet start before conditions settle. Commonwealth Games 2026. . . Wednesday 22 July 2026
Split image showing a weather map for western Scotland with widespread rain around Glasgow on the left, and runners poised at a starting line on an athletics track on the right.
Wednesday 22 July 2026

Commonwealth Games 2026

A wet start before conditions settle
All weather news
This might also interest you
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
New records for England and Wales. Broken again tomorrow?. . . Thursday 25 June 2026
Temperature map of southwest Britain on 25.06 showing extreme heat across southern Wales and southwest England, with Bute Park in Cardiff highlighted at 34.2°C and Yeovilton at 36.4°C amid widespread deep red heat zones.
Thursday 25 June 2026

Broken again tomorrow?

New records for England and Wales
Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands. Storm and rain. . . Friday 12 December 2025
Weather graphic showing rain and wind fields over the Canary Islands and a central warning symbol.
Friday 12 December 2025

Storm and rain

Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands
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