Volcano Nicknamed GATEWAY TO HELL Could Be About To BLOW – And It Could Affect BRITAIN

A VOLCANO so powerful an eruption could affect the UK is about the blow, experts have warned.

Researchers claim The Hekla volcano in southern Iceland, nicknamed the Gateway to Hell, could blow “at any minute” after pressure readings from inside soared in intensity.

It used to erupt regularly, but has been quiet for 16 years, leading geologists to fear it is building up for a mega outburst.

The magma mount will put lives at risk when she blows, according to the University of Iceland.

Páll Einarsson, professor at University of Iceland, who has studied the peak, said: “Hekla is ready at any moment.

“Hekla is a dangerous volcano. We could be looking at a major disaster when the next eruption begins if we are not careful.”

He also said it was a very popular tourist destination, with groups who visit the mount during “most of the summer” now potentially at risk.

Worryingly, he said that pressure readings within the volcano were already higher than they were when it most recently erupted in 1991 and 2000.

During the two-week long eruption in 2000, it became clear that Hekla could cause a pyroclastic flow – a wall of scorching gas and rock that can reach 450mph.

It was a pyroclastic flow that famously wiped out the Roman town of Pompeii with temperatures between 500c and 1000c in 79AD.

Professor Einarsson said: “There are also 20-30 planes full of passengers flying right over the top of Hekla every day.

“This is a risky moment which we need to take seriously. Hekla is ready at any moment.”

Heckle is also 26 miles south of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano, which grounded planes across Europe and in the UK after monster gas cloud eruptions in 2010.

There are fears if it erupts again it could send gas clouds and pollution our way and affect UK flights.