The raising of the defense walls from the place where the Blue Lagoon parking lot used to be to the Njarðvíkur pipeline is well underway and was ongoing throughout the night. It is expected that two defense walls will be raised by 3-4 meters.

Work was done all night on cooling the lava at the eruption sites at Sundhnúkagígar crater row as well as on expanding and widening the defense walls, so that red-hot lava does not get over them.

The first round of doctors' strikes, due to start at midnight, was called off late last night after an agreement was reached on the main points of a new collective agreement. However, individual points in the agreement still need to be finalized and negotiations were planned to continue into the night.

Last night, volcanic pollution (SO2) was measured in Grindavík and on air quality monitors south of the eruption sites at an unhealthy concentration for sensitive people.

"Activity last night was fairly steady to begin with, but at 5 am this morning the volcanic activity decreased and at the same time the visible activity in the central crater, the crater that has been the most active so far, decreased."

The Blue Lagoon has decided to extend its closure until November 29, but it was originally scheduled to reopen tomorrow. Until the opening, various options will be examined regarding where parking can be set up, but lava flowed over the main parking lot of the Blue Lagoon the other day.

The police chief in Suðurnes requested the assistance of the rescue team last night in asking people to respect the recommendation not to go to the eruption in Sundhnúkagígar crater row.

There was some trouble with tourists in the vicinity of the eruption site last night and the conditions in Svartsengi are dangerous.

The lava flow that is now flowing along the defense walls and yesterday crossed the parking lots at the Blue Lagoon has reached a natural threshold just south of where the parking lots were and are starting to flow to the west.

People stayed in 20 houses in Grindavík last night and harbor activities have begun in the town. In comparison, people were staying in 56 houses the previous night before evacuations were taken. There are hopes that the Njarðvík pipeline will remain intact so that it will not be repeated when the water went down in Reykjanes last February. Responders are mainly concerned about gas pollution.

The activity in the eruption is fairly stable and does not appear to have particularly diminished overnight.

The entire parking lot of the Blue Lagoon is now under lava, except for a few street lamps that stand at the end of what used to be a parking lot. Then the lava seems to have spread a little and, among other things, just now passed over a sign directing visitors to the car park.

Lava is now flowing right next to the parking lot of the Blue Lagoon and will probably cross the lot shortly. However, it is not believed that the lava will enter the defense wall, reservoir, or the power plant in Svartsengi.

Part of the parking lot at the Blue Lagoon is already under lava. Helga Árnadóttir, manager of sales, operations, and services at the Blue Lagoon, says she has been in contact with emergency responders.

Ásrún Helga Kristinsdóttir, president of Grindavík's town council, says it was a surprise that the eruption should start now. Her husband and older daughter had to evacuate Grindavík under loud siren blasts.

A volcanic eruption has begun on the Reykjanes Peninsula after increased seismic activity was detected near the Sundhnúkagígar crater row.

Good progress is being made in the salary negotiations of the Medical Association of Iceland with the Icelandic government, but the doctors' strikes will begin in five days if an agreement is not reached before that time.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Central Bank of Iceland has decided to lower the bank's key interest rate by 0.5 percentage points.

The Cyber ​​Security Team of the Telecommunications Agency will, together with the Civil Defense, hold an exercise early next year, simulating the situation that could arise if all three submarine cables connecting Iceland to Europe are cut.

Stein Ove Tveiten, the outgoing CEO of Arctic Fish, says Iceland has the means to develop sea pen fish farming sustainably. However, he fears that ideas to make it subject to a heavier tax burden in Iceland than in other countries will hamper growth opportunities.

Those who have sold their houses in Grindavík to the real estate company Þórkatla can now enter into an agreement for the use of the house and pay only for heat and electricity.

"Perhaps it will soon reach a similar volume as before the last eruption," says Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, head of deformation measurements at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, in an interview with mbl.is about the situation of magma accumulation under Svartsengi. He adds that the uncertainty is, however, always there.

The last parliamentary session of the term is over, the budget has been passed and the parliament has been officially adjourned.

Teachers have agreed to set aside their demands to find benchmarks in the private market to match their pay and are willing to try working with new methodologies.

It is not considered bad to wear clothes from the French fashion house Chanel from head to toe, but that is what the musician Laufey Lín Jónsdóttir did at the premiere of Wicked recently. The evening was eventful and she spent part of the evening with one of the world's most famous singers, Ariana Grande.

On the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims, which is today, November 17, attention is focused on the dangers of drivers falling asleep at the wheel. Studies show that sleep and fatigue are among the main causes of fatal traffic accidents, and the focus is, therefore, a given.

Icelander and trailer editor Daði Már Sigurðsson is a happy camper after he and colleagues at his Silk Factory won a Clio award for their movie trailer from the movie Kneecap.

The nation reads or listens to an average of 2.6 books per month, compared to 2.4 books last year. 55% of the population spends 30 minutes or more reading daily, while 15% do not read or listen to books. Novels are the most popular reading material and 60% of the population gave a book as a present during the year. 56% get ideas for reading material from friends and relatives and 36% from coverage in the media. 31% said they had not read a book in the last 30 days, but the definition of reading in the survey is reading traditional books, e-books, and listening to audiobooks.

Kristján Kristjánsson, manager at Árekstur.is (traffic collision helpline), says the phone has been ringing off the hook for about three hours. He asks people to drive carefully.

There has been a lot of disruption to flights due to the storm so far this day, but two dozen flights were canceled this morning or postponed until the day.

Researchers at deCode Genetics have found a genetic variation that protects against asthma, but those who are carriers are 73% less likely to develop severe asthma than those who do not have the genetic variation.

Members of the rescue teams at Landsbjörg are now mourning a good friend after the fatal accident on November 3, when Sigurður Kristófer McQuillan Óskarsson died during training at Tungufljót River.

It is estimated that 170 direct jobs, as well as several secondary jobs, will be created when the magnesium factory Njörður Holding ehf. on Grundartangi becomes a reality in the coming years.

A lot has been built in Álftanes in the last few years, for example, terraced and apartment buildings, and in the last few months several people from Grindavík have settled in apartments there.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office is warning of severe weather in many parts of the country tomorrow, and a yellow and orange weather warning has been issued due to strong winds and snowfall.