Scientists are bracing for high lava fountains in the latest episode of an ongoing eruption of Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano.

Iceland's famous Blue Lagoon spa also closed after the Sundhnjukagigar volcano started spouting lava on Tuesday and the village Grindavik was evacuated, apart from eight residents who refused to leave.

Iceland sits above a volcanic hot spot in the North Atlantic and averages one eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed clouds of ash into the atmosphere and disrupted trans-Atlantic air travel for months.