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Thousands of people have been evacuated after a volcano at the Cumbre Vieja of La Palma erupted earlier today. The volcanic eruption on the Spanish Canary Islands has been ongoing since 3:20pm local time (14:20 GMT). A live video stream of the volcanic eruption can be followed below from RTVE News, a Spanish public broadcaster.
It is the first such eruption on La Palma since 1971.
The latest live night-time video footage from the volcano shows fountains of lava shooting hundreds of metres into the sky.
There are at least three streams of molten lava pouring down the hill, submerging woods and farmland.
One lava stream, which measures around tens of metres wide, has reportedly already started engulfing houses in the village of El Paso.
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Spain’s Civil Guard have evacuated more than 5,000 people, including around 500 tourists staying in a hotel in the nearby Puerto de Naos.
The Civil Guard warned that it may need to evacuate up to 10,000 residents in total.
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez postponed his trip to New York for the UN General Assembly in order to travel to La Palma.
He tweeted: “I am at the moment heading to the Canary Islands because of the seismic evolution, to see first-hand the situation in La Palma, the coordination of the means and the protocols that have been activated.”
At the time of the eruption, terrifying footage showed the volcano spewing lava and a large cloud of black smoke into the air.
Video on TV Canaria also showed a huge plume of black smoke billowing into the sky, while another clip online shows red lava exploding out of the volcano.
The eruption had been anticipated after experts recorded more than 22,000 tremors this week in the area.
The volcanic eruption took place after the nearby earthquakes gained strength.
Earlier today, the Volcanological Institute of the Canary Islands (Involcan) recorded a 4.2 magnitude earthquake that struck La Palma.
A smaller 3.2-magnitude earthquake was recorded just 100 meters below the surface on Saturday.
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