Now it is a hot shot.
Melted lava washed out of the mouth of the Fagradalsfjall volcano in southwestern Iceland on Friday when it erupted after being dormant for 6,000 years. And the resulting staggering footage of the natural phenomena is almost too hot to handle.
Aerial photographer Bjorn Steinbekk flew over the fiery storm with his drone over the weekend and captured a beautiful viral video of the lava as it streamed through the Fagradalsberg on the Reykjanes Peninsula of Iceland.
According to the Associated Press, the eruption that occurred after a series of earthquakes in the area was the first volcanic eruption in 781 years.
Photographer Muhammed Emin Kizilkaya on Sunday took a two-hour hike on the volcano for close-up shots of the spitting lava while the electric-red glow illuminated the otherwise gray Icelandic sky.
“It was very hot! You can stand five [meters] out of it and it would be too much, ”Kizilkaya told Caters News about the fire.
“This is the most surreal, extraordinary and astonishing thing I have ever seen,” he added.
“I slapped my face a few times to see if I was dreaming!”
The radiation of the massive fire can be seen on the outskirts of Iceland’s capital, Reykjavík, which is about 20 kilometers from the mountain.
Icelandic police tweeted residents in the area to stay inside on Friday and close their windows to prevent exposure to dangerous gas pollution from the eruption.
Volcanic gases, including sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide and hydrogen fluoride, pose a great potential hazard to humans, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office confirmed on Twitter that high levels of volcanic gases were measured near the eruption site. However, officials noted: “Gas pollution is not expected to cause much inconvenience to people except near the source of the eruption.”
Despite concerns about the potentially dangerous emissions, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said the eruption was small and that it was unlikely to damage structures or settlements in the immediate area.