Iceland volcanic eruption: barriers appear to hold back lava outside town

Defences redirect flows away from key infrastructure in Grindavik but threat to nearby sites remains

Defensive barriers that were bolstered overnight around the fishing town of Grindavik appeared to have held, but a steadily slowing lava flow from the fourth volcanic eruption on Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula since December remained a threat on Sunday.

After weeks of warnings that semi-molten rock was building up under the ground, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said on Saturday night the eruption, at 8.23pm local time (2023 GMT), had opened a nearly 3km-long fissure in the earth between two mountains.