Holidaying couple flee as volcano erupts nearby

The couple had intended to go walking in the area of the volcano that day

A couple from Canterbury, in Kent, had to flee from their hotel when a volcano erupted during their holiday in Iceland.

Louise and Matthew Jones-Roberts were enjoying the last night of their four day break in the Reykjanes Peninsula on Wednesday night when the manager told guests to evacuate immediately.

As a wall of fire and molten lava appeared on the horizon, the pair grabbed their possessions, jumped in a car and raced to the airport.

Speaking to Radio Kent on Friday, Louise Jones-Roberts described the experience - which is the area's tenth eruption in three years and the sixth in 2024 - as "life-affirming, surreal, brilliant, a real eye-opener".

The couple had to quickly decide whether to follow the road to the airport or the sea

"We were just getting ready for bed. The hotel manager came in and said 'right, I need everyone to keep calm but we have to evacuate'," said Mrs Jones-Roberts.

They were told to follow a convoy of vehicles from the hotel.

"We ran back, got our stuff, woke up our friend who was fast asleep, and got out," said Mrs Jones-Roberts.

"We went out into the carpark and sirens were going. You could see the red, it was massive.

"We were behind a mountain, so you could just see the sky was lit up and the smoke."

Split-second decision

The region where the couple were staying lies 30km (20 miles) south-west of the capital Reykjavik and is home to 30,000 people.

No one was reported to have been hurt or killed following the eruption, but lava engulfed the carpark and a service building at one of Iceland’s biggest attractions, the Blue Lagoon, reported the AFP news agency.

There appeared to be no immediate threat to the hot pools as the lava was held back by a defensive wall.

As a police officer arrived and told them to get out of the area, the couple had to make a split-second decision - drive towards the sea or in the direction of the airport, where the molten lava was flowing from.

"We knew that the direction of the lava was towards the airport, so we went that way," said Mrs Jones-Roberts.

"We had been in the Blue Lagoon just before our dinner and the road that we had taken to get in was completely gone."

As they drove from the hotel, fire and molten lava could be seen on the horizon

The couple had been due to walk in the area of the volcano that day, but had changed their plans.

"We made a last-minute change of plan to go to a thermal river and we were checking the meteorological website every day," said Mrs Jones-Roberts.

"They measure magma build-up and the consensus was that there was insufficient magma for there to be an eruption any time.

"It actually said no volcanic activity predicted in November."

She added that, although there had been "a lot of panic," the experience had been a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see that".

"Also, you really do need to get out alive," she said.