After rescuing a hiker near Iceland's erupting volcano, police are urging tourists to stay away

• Police rescued a hiker who got too close to a volcanic eruption in Iceland's Reykjanes peninsula.
• The volcano began erupting on December 18 after a series of earthquakes hit the surrounding areas.

A Coast Guard helicopter flew by Iceland's volcanic eruption on Tuesday to rescue a hiker who was wandering too close to the site, The Guardian's Miranda Bryant reported.

The volcanic eruption started on Monday evening at 10:17 p.m. local time near Grindavík, a town on the country's southwestern Reykjanes peninsula. The eruption created 2.5 miles of lava rivers in the region.

A spokesperson for the Icelandic Coast Guard told The Sun that a hiker flashed a light as a plane flew by on Tuesday, signaling a call for help. Police told The Guardian that the hiker was "exhausted, cold and shocked halfway to the eruption" when they were rescued.

Iceland's authorities are now doubling down on their warnings to the public to stay away from the area by advising tourists to "think four times" before getting close to the site, according to The Guardian.

"A little information about the location of the eruption that will hopefully make people think four times before they set off. The first 500 meters are on a decent path, but then rough, rough lava takes over, which is extremely difficult to cross," police told The Guardian. "It will take an experienced hiker about 4-5 hours to walk this route, which is not for everyone."

Speaking to The Guardian, authorities added that there's "considerable gas pollution" in the area, where lava could also freeze over on Wednesday. (Icelandic police did not immediately respond to BI's request for comment.)

Prior to the rescue, authorities had been urging people to stay away from the area due to toxic fumes being released into the atmosphere by the eruption. But some — including tourists — have continued watching the lava flow from a distance since the volcano erupted.

The volcanic site is about two miles from Grindavík, where as many as 2,000 earthquakes created deep cracks and holes in the streets in November. The seismic activity led to an evacuation of 3,300 locals, as The Washington Post reported, and prompted nearby tourist sites like the Blue Lagoon to close as Iceland declared a state of emergency on November 11.

While Iceland's meteorological office thought the lava was headed towards Grindavík on Monday, on Tuesday, they said it looked like the eruption's course was taking a different direction, The Guardian reported at the time.

Before the volcano erupted, experts in volcanology told Business Insider that air travel probably wouldn't be affected so tourists wouldn't necessarily need to cancel their plans to visit Iceland.

On Wednesday, a few flights were canceled at Keflavik Airport, but most are arriving and taking off as usual, according to its website. And a Euronews report from Wednesday said the volcano is emitting "minor to no ash" — a good sign, since ash can typically impact flights by decreasing visibility and causing damage to aircraft.