The eruption began yesterday, spewing orange lava 80m high from a 3km crack in the earth, but by this morning there were only a few sputtering vents.

It was the third eruption in the area, just south of the capital Reykjavik, since December.

Schools, kindergartens, museums, and other public institutions in the region were closed today as the lava had hit hot water pipes used to supply geothermally heated water.

“It is a very bad situation to have this area without hot water, but there is electricity, there is potable water and we are hoping to have hot water by noon (on Friday),” Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir told public broadcaster RUV.

The temperature in the area stood at -8 °Celsius earlier today.

Satellite images published by the Icelandic Met Office showed lava flows had reached roughly 4.5km to the west of the eruption, just some 500m from the Blue Lagoon – a luxury geothermal spa – which was evacuated yesterday and remained closed.