After a new stream of lava broke into the ocean, pushing thick clouds of potentially poisonous fumes far into the sky, authorities on the Spanish island of La Palma warned inhabitants of three coastal communities to stay indoors, on Monday.
Around midday (12:00 GMT), a third tongue of lava from the Cumbre Vieja volcano, which has been erupting for two months, entered the sea, a few kilometres north of where two earlier flows had reached the sea.
White clouds billowed out of the ocean as the red-hot molten rock plummeted down a cliff into the Atlantic, according to drone footage from the local council.
Strong winds carried the cloud back onshore, forcing residents in Tazacorte, San Borondon and parts of El Cardon to stay inside with doors and windows shut.
Soldiers from the Military Emergency Unit were dispatched to the region to assess the air quality.
Due to the inclement weather, the airport was also closed and is expected to stay closed for up to 48 hours, Miguel Angel Morcuende, technical head of the Pevolca eruption response committee reported.
Due to significant levels of particulate matter and sulphur dioxide in the air, residents in the capital, Santa Cruz, were urged to use masks for the first time since the eruption began, he said.
Thousands of people have been forced to flee their homes on the island, which is part of the Canaries archipelago, due to lava flows that have damaged and destroyed 2,650 buildings since September 19, the Copernicus catastrophe monitoring programme revealed.
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