Iceland volcano eruption seen by Essex couple on holiday

Lorraine Crawford, 67, and her 70-year-old husband John, from Essex, took a trip to Reykjavik on Thursday along with Mr Crawford’s cousin, Michael Daltrey, and his wife, Faye.

The group were in a taxi on their way to Keflavik International Airport on Sunday morning to return to the UK when Mrs Crawford said they saw the erupting volcano in the distance and initially thought it was a fire.

It is the second time the volcano, near the town of Grindavik, has erupted in less than a month following a series of earthquakes, with residents evacuated overnight.

Members of the community were previously evacuated from their homes in November for a period of six weeks following a volcanic eruption in December.

Explosion - The volcanic eruption in Grindavik, Iceland as seen from in Asbru, Reykjanesbaer (Image: Hrafnkell Brimar Hallmundsson/PA)

“It’s alarming in a way – it’s quite exciting to see something like that but then you realise that this could do quite a lot of damage,” Mrs Crawford, who runs a travel agency with her husband and their daughter, told the PA news agency.

“On the way (to the airport), we thought it was just a fire in the distance but (the taxi driver) said it was the actual volcano erupting.”

She added that they had heard a “really loud noise” and a “really loud rumble” from the airport, but they were not sure what had caused it.

Mrs Crawford also said their taxi driver told the group he lives “not far” from the volcano.

“He told us he was home one morning and looked out of his kitchen window and thought it was a fire – but it wasn’t, it was the volcano erupting,” she said.

“He also said on his way to the airport this morning there was nothing and on his way back obviously we could see it, the red in the distance – it was crazy.

“Thankfully we weren’t that close.”

Family - Lorraine Crawford (right) with husband John (left) and John's cousin Michael Daltrey and Faye Daltrey (Image: Lorraine Crawford/PA)

Mrs Crawford also said their flight back to the UK had been delayed by around five hours, but EasyJet was citing technical issues as the reason for the disruption.

“We’re a bit annoyed about the delay but I don’t think we’re in any danger because we’re quite a distance from there,” she said.

“It was brilliant - we were hoping we would see it on the plane this morning.

“It’s definitely one of those photos that you add to your collection.”