The evacuation zone in Iceland is “still dangerous”, a civil protection official has told The Independent, with current conditions leaving just a few minutes’ warning of a feared volcano eruption.

A fortnight since Grindavik was evacuated, after magma-induced seismic activity tore vast chasms through the streets of the town, officials are expected to lower the threat level in the area on Thursday – enabling residents to return for longer periods to collect their valuables.

Speaking to The Independent as international media were allowed back into the town for the first time, one civil defence official said: “It is still dangerous here ...

I have never seen anything like it before.

Usually we will have a few minutes warning to get out but with the weather like it is today we have even less.”

In addition to fears of weather hampering monitoring systems, civil protection chief Vídir Reynisson told Fox News: “The challenge that we have is that we will not see any strong evidence that the magma is coming up, we will see some small earthquakes and we can see how they will probably form in one place rather than another.”

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