Hundreds of people were evacuated from one of Iceland's most famous tourist hotspots following a volcanic eruption. A volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula in the country's south-west erupted late on Saturday for the fourth time in three months, sending orange jets of lava into the night sky. It blew up just three miles away from the Blue Lagoon, a beautiful geothermal spa that attracts many tourists to the south west of the country. It is estimated that about 700-800 guests and employees were at the Blue Lagoon when the eruption began. A large plume of smoke could be seen rising above the warm water spa after the
volcano erupted. The lagoon shut to the public the other four times that volcanoes have erupted in Iceland in recent months, in what is turning out to be a particularly turbulent patch of activity. As of this afternoon lava from the volcanic eruption is continuing to flow towards defences around the town of Grindavik, which have so far held the molten rock back from the evacuated community. Scientists said earlier today that the eruption appears to be weakening and will probably peter out within hours. Iceland volcano eruption: Lava spews hundreds of feet in the air 'without warning' The volcano erupted on Saturday evening ( Image: AFP via Getty Images) Iceland's Meteorological Office said the eruption opened a fissure in the earth about two miles long between the mountains of Stora-Skogfell and Hagafell. It said on Sunday that lava is flowing south and south-east at about 0.6mph, and might reach the sea. Defensive barriers have been built to stop it inundating the main road along the peninsula's southern coast. No flight disruption was reported at nearby Keflavik, Iceland's main airport. The eruption site is a few miles north-east of Grindavik, a coastal town of 3,800 people about 30 miles south-west of the capital, Reykjavik. The town was evacuated before the initial eruption on December 18, and a second eruption that began on January 14 sent lava towards the town. Defensive walls that had been bolstered after the first eruption stopped some of the flow, but several buildings were consumed by the lava. Both eruptions lasted only a matter of days. A third eruption began on February 8 and ended within hours, but not before a river of lava engulfed a pipeline, cutting off heat and hot water to thousands of people. Iceland's iconic Blue Lagoon has closed over fears of a volcano eruption ( Image: Getty Images) The current eruption is the most powerful, geophysicist Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson told RUV, having just returned from a helicopter flight over the site. He said that the fissure extends from the northern side of Hagafell and north to Stóra-Skógfell. He estimated it was about 2.5 miles wide. Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, sees regular eruptions and is highly experienced at dealing with them. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe. Rather than having a central volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula - which is where the current eruption is taking place - is dominated by a rift valley, with lava fields and cones.