Volcanologist Dr Evgenia Ilyinskaya, of the University of Leeds, has told the BBC that images coming out of Iceland "are very difficult to believe, very difficult to watch".

She told BBC Breakfast this part of Iceland hasn't had eruptions in 800 years and the last time lava threatened a town was 50 years ago in 1973.

When asked just how long the eruptions could last, she warned that this could potentially continue for several centuries:

"I think all the scientists who work on this now agree that we are entering what is called 'New Reykjanes Fires' and this is an episode of very frequent eruptions.

"So we're talking about every few months or once a year or so which could continue for several decades or several centuries."

Dr Ilyinskaya, who grew up in Iceland, said this would be something very difficult for people to get their heads around.