KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 — People in the UK are being advised to stay indoors today due to a massive and hazardous cloud of sulphur dioxide (SO2) emitted by recent volcanic eruptions in Iceland, The Daily Mail reported.

SO2 is a gas typically released from burning coal or crude oil but is also a major by-product of volcanic activity.

Breathing in this gas can lead to a sore throat, coughing, a runny nose, burning eyes, tight lungs, and other breathing difficulties.

The corrosive and acidic cloud was reported to have blanketed Iceland in the early hours of the morning.

French news agency AFP reported the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) announcing a new eruption at 9.26pm last Thursday, following a series of earthquakes at its southwestern Reykjanes peninsula.

Video images showed orange lava bursting out of a long fissure, which the IMO placed at 3.9 kilometres long.

The IMO also announced that there would be "northerly and northwesterly winds at the eruption site” that would spread gas pollution from the site out to sea.

The Reykjanes peninsula reportedly has not experienced an eruption for 800 years until March 2021, followed by more volcanic activities in August 2022, and in July and December 2023.

Iceland is home to 33 active volcano systems, the highest number in Europe.

It straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.