Perhaps if you multiplied a satsuma by an African sunset, you’d be approaching the intense orangeness of the lava tumbling from Fagradalsfjall. “I’m not gonna lie, I was pretty happy when it started,” says Eythor Saemundsson from the local Reykjanes Peninsula tourism office as we stand watching another eruption.
When your job is to promote one of the smallest regions in Iceland, the arrival of a new, instantly world-famous volcano seems like a gift.
“In the office we were looking at all the earthquakes and saying: ‘I hope it happens here.’ So yeah, we were glad and it’s going to do a lot – already has done a lot – for this area.”
Not only did Fagradalsfjall begin erupting on 19 March, it did so incredibly conveniently, away from an urban centre, relatively gently, with a lava flow that is, for the most part, predictable.
For much of its life so far, Iceland’s newest volcano has been going off like a geyser every 10 minutes or so. Spectating is safe and accessible, thanks to a hastily created path a few miles east of the town of Grindavik. “Apart from childbirth I can’t think of anything much more primitive,” says Eythor. “I keep expecting to see a dinosaur any minute.”
At the time of writing, Iceland’s newest volcano continues to grow, with fresh lava being added dozens of times a day. The eruption may well still be going by the time you read this, the lava field extending inexorably towards the ocean, meaning that the country has grown a little larger in the time it took you to read this sentence. And this one.
If, as predicted, the lava eventually reaches the southern coast, Iceland will have a new border. In all eventualities, it seems certain this volcano will prove much more popular than the ash-spewing Eyjafjallajökull, which grounded more than 100,000 flights with its disruptive 2010 emissions.
And yet Eythor insists the two volcanoes have much in common. Both appeared in the aftermath of a financial crisis. Both helped put Iceland back in the public consciousness.
The arrival of both, insists my guide, felt serendipitous. Even Eyjafjallajökull? I ask without attempting its impossible name. “Well, our currency went down and we had a lot of low-cost airlines at the time, plus the whole thing about the pronunciation and all that combined.
“As far as I’m concerned it really helped form our modern tourism industry in Iceland,” explains Eythor. “Now we have this one to maybe get us out from under Covid, too. It feels like luck.” Quite what happens next with Fagradalsfjall is unclear. Some volcanologists think it may well yet have two years more of lava to produce, while others point out that the last period of sustained volcanic activity in the Reykjanes Peninsula lasted for 30 years.
This could be the start of another one of those cycles. Or not – there’s also a chance that by the time you read this, the rock will already be growing cold.
One of the many, many remarkable things about Fagradalsfjall is just how quickly this happens. Within seconds, that purest of oranges fades, blackens and coagulates.
The crust hardens almost instantly, and, in the early days of the eruption, images emerged of locals walking across it with no idea of how thick or settled it was, nor just how much lava was flowing underneath.
This was not the only madness on display. Some camped on a hillside just above it. Some people proposed next to the newly unearthed magma; others got naked. There was a now infamous game of volleyball.
In some ways, it was just as well Covid-19 measures kept the majority of international idiots and narcissists away from its fiery shores.
To cope with the influx of visitors, as well as the path, local authorities have had to deploy rangers and guides, while entrepreneurial helicopter pilots have been flying those who can’t or won’t make the hour-long trek from a field to a peak adjacent to the caldera.
Access denied as the lava flows
For those who can’t make it at all cameras have been set up to provide a constant livestream. All of this has required nimbleness and I saw just how quickly this situation evolves.
I make two visits to Fagradalsfjall a week apart, but in that time, the hill next to the caldera went from a viewing platform to an island as lava encircled it. The only people now able to get close to the volcano are those in the helicopters. Instead, on my second visit, I joined about two dozen foreigners 500 yards or so away from the peak.
Three Russian-speaking women have one beer and two cigarettes each; an American loudly declares the volcano to be “super cute”; smartphone users lament not having proper camera gear; a drone pilot flies his irritating bug as close as he dared; we all resent those in the choppers.
And yet for all those distractions, there really does feel something elemental about watching this rawest of natural displays.
The whipping Icelandic winds occasionally blow the heat of the volcano towards us, and along with it a sulphorous smell, not of eggs but of a fresh match, as though the gales are trying to blow out this subterranean flame.
But try as it might, the weather can’t quite manage – this is the underworld’s time to shine.
Travel essentials
How to get there
Reykjavik is served from Stansted by new low-cost airline Play; flights from the UK are also offered by Icelandair, easyJet and British Airways.Package trips to Iceland are offered by Discover the World, Best Served Scandinavia, British Airways and Trailfinders.
Entry requirements
Iceland welcomes fully vaccinated travellers from the UK and those with proven antibodies. The NHS app or an NHS letter will be accepted as proof. Children born in or before 2004 need to undergo testing at the border, quarantine for 5 days and then be tested a second time, unless they have a certificate of full vaccination. Under-18s are permitted to travel to Iceland with their parents. Domestic Covid restrictions have now been lifted. covid.isIceland is on the DfT green list – quarantine is not required on return to the UK, but a negative test must be produced three days before returning and a further PCR test taken two days after returning. gov.uk/foreign-travel-advice/iceland
More information
Live stream: bit.ly/IceVolcanoLive
visitreykjanes.is/en
visiticeland.com
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