Iceland volcano: Blue Lagoon extends closure as Met Office warns ‘unrest not over’

Iceland’s Lava Show co-founder and TikToker LadyLava have joined forces to raise awareness of the situation in Grindavik by creating a fundraiser for those who have been affected by the threat of volcanic eruption in the town.

“It’s exactly three weeks since every single person had to evacuate Grindavik because a magma intrusion formed below the town. Its been three weeks and there’s still been complete uncertainty about whether or not it’s going to erupt, whether the people of Grindavik will be able to return home.

“They are still not at home and Christmas is coming and this must be incredibly difficult.”

From the spectacular Northern Lights to the stunning waters of Blue Lagoon, Iceland is certainly not short of tourist attractions.

But the country may have found another spot for tourists to take selfies in front of, after the small harbour town of Grindavík was hit by thousands of earthquakes.

As fears of an imminent volcanic eruption subside, the town is looking at how best to recover after streets were torn up and residents fled for safety.

The crater left behind in the wake of the chaos spreads from a Lutheran church and nursery all the way through a children’s playground and underneath the fabled Grindavík basketball team’s plush new stadium with the season about to start.

Barney Davis reports from Grindavik.

A popular tourist spot in Iceland has extended closure of its facilities until 9 December as the Department for Civil Protection transitioned from a phase of emergency to “Alert”.

In a statement on their website, the popular Blue Lagoon said:

“The current closure of Blue Lagoon will remain in effect until 07:00 on December 9, at which point the situation will be reassessed.

“The current closure of Silica Hotel and Retreat Hotel will remain in effect until 07:00 on December 12, at which point the situation will be reassessed.

“As of now, it is still impossible to determine if, when, or where an eruption might occur. The Icelandic Meteorological Office, Civil Protection, and a team of scientists from the University of Iceland are closely monitoring the situation and analyzing the developments.”

Only 8km of earth stands beneath the surface of Reykjanes and the earth’s mantle according to analysis by the Icelandic Times.

Using existing information on earthquakes, it was found that no earthquakes took place deeper than 7 to 8km beneath the earth’s surface. Reporters suggested that the crust beneath the surface appears to be thin like an “oceanic crust”.

Almost all earthquakes happening in Grindavik recently appear to be shallow, according to reports.

Major commercial banks in Iceland agreed to lower interest rates and repayments on housing loans for three months for residents affected by the threat of a volcanic eruption in Grindavik.

However, residents say they want the pension funds to do the same, according to RUV.

One bank director said the situation was “under review” and that different laws and regulations applied to housing repayments versus pension funds.

Chairman of the Grindavík Labor Union told RÚV: “We received no real answers. They say it’s under review and it has been under review for an incredible amount of time, and they can’t find any reasons to support it. We were here protesting last Thursday and got the same answers. They just have no answers for us, and we’ll keep coming here until they come up with something sensible for us.”

Charities have taken part in a number of rescue efforts in a bid to save animals in the town with rescuers returning to look for animals.

Cats, dogs, hamsters and even hens were at the centre of rescue efforts after many were left behind following evacuation orders which gave residents minutes to leave. Over 4,000 people were evacuated.

Charities and other organisations stepped in to save the day as many happy reunions took place amid the bittersweet circumstances.

Hannah Everson, manager of Kattholt Animal Shelter, said she went back to the town to search for animals. She was able to collect a total of 49 animals.

Iceland’s coalition government has proposed new plans to increase taxation in an effort to curb inflation according to Heimildin.

It could see increases of up to 24 billion ISK in taxation for the Icelandic people with 6 billion allocated to finance actions affecting Grindavik, such as income insurance and rent support.

The government of Iceland have put out a plea for properties suitable for temporary rentals for those evacuated from the town of Grindavik.

They said: “This action is intended to increase the availability of properties for this group and is part of the government’s housing support for Grindvíkinga, which also consists of wage support, rent subsidy (under the control of the parliament) and previously announced purchases of real estate by the government.

“Information about the properties will be collected on Ísland.is.”

After threats of an eruption led to an evaucation of thousands, over fifty kindergarten children have attended school in Bakkakot in Grafarvogur, according to RUV, amounting to a quarter of Grindavik pre-schoolers.

Kindergarten in Iceland covers children aged from two until six.

A department at the pre-school was opened on Thursday so that children could spend time with others along with their parents as they are still unable to return home due to the risk of an eruption.

According to the director of the school, the arrangement was due to last six days but has been extended by another fortnight.

As of Tuesday, children have the option of staying six hours a day.

“Due to earthquakes in the vicinity of Grindavík, the previously issued flight and drone ban has been extended until December 15. Media will be granted conditional exemptions.

“At the request of the National Defense Coordination Centre, on behalf of the Police Commissioner in Suðurnes, the previously announced flight and drone ban has been extended until December 15th. The closure covers the same area as before.”