Iceland cut its ash warning level for aviation to orange from red on Sunday, saying a fresh fissure eruption in Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system was not creating ash. Iceland's largest volcanic system, which cuts a 190 km long and up to 25 km wide (118 miles by 15.5 miles) swathe across the North Atlantic island, has been hit by thousands of earthquakes over the last two weeks and scientists have been on high alert.
In 2010, an ash cloud from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, in a different region of Iceland, closed much of Europe's air space for six days.
The eruption, which started early on Sunday morning, spewed lava more than 50 metres in the air and is close to an earlier eruption that continued for a few hours early on Friday.
The Met Office raised its ash alert level to red earlier on Sunday but cut it after monitoring the eruption during the day.
"No ash has been detected," the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement. "The Aviation Colour Code for Bardarbunga has therefore been reset to orange."
Red is the highest level on a five-colour scale and it indicates that an eruption is imminent or under way, with a risk of spewing ash. Orange is the next highest level.
A three nautical mile restricted flight area around the volcanic activity set by the Icelandic Transport Authority has been cancelled.
No flight restrictions are in effect as a result of the volcanic eruption. Icelandic authorities said the latest fissure eruption started in Holuhraun north of Dyngjujokull glacier at around 0400 GMT.
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