Volcano erupts near Iceland's capital Reykjavik

A volcano has erupted south-west of Iceland's capital Reykjavik, the country's meteorological office says.

It is warning the public of falling rocks and boulders, and also landslides as the eruption began at Fagradalsfjall on Reykjanes peninsula.

This comes after the area recorded more than 50,000 earthquakes in the past three weeks.

In 2010, the eruption of another volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, brought air traffic to a halt across Europe.

However, the eruption of Fagradalsfjall is not expected to spew out much ash or smoke, so aviation should not suffer disruption.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office says the eruption of Fagradalsfjall was confirmed on Friday evening via webcams and satellite images.

A coastguard helicopter was sent to survey the area, about 30km (19 miles) from Reykjavik.

It later sent first images of the lava snaking its way down after the eruption.

A magnitude 3.1 earthquake was recorded 1.2 km from Fagradalsfjall just several hours earlier.

Iceland frequently experiences tremors as it straddles two tectonic plates, which are drifting in opposite directions.

The country is the only place in the world where the mid-Atlantic rift is visible above the surface of the ocean.