Signs of potential eruption of volcano under glacier

Meltwater is flooding from the Grimsvotn glacial lake in Iceland and could signal that the volcano underneath is about to erupt, a spokeswoman at the Icelandic Civil Protection Department has said.

In April, clouds of ash from an eruption under the Eyjafjallajokull glacier grounded flights across Europe for a week, causing multi-billion losses for airlines and other industries.

Water now pouring from Iceland's biggest glacier, Vatnajokull - which sits on top of a number of volcanic hotspots - could be a sign of fresh geological activity, Civil Protection Department spokeswoman Gudrun Johannesdottir said yesterday.

Eyjafjallajokull is about 80 miles south-east of Vatnajokull.

"We have to check if there will be an eruption," Ms Johannesdottir said. "Sometimes it initiates an eruption when a glacial outburst flood starts, but not every time. So we are monitoring the situation closely."