Lava poured from an erupting volcano on the Spanish island of La Palma for a fourth day yesterday, blanketing houses and fields, a day after people with homes on the path of the molten rock were allowed back briefly to recover belongings.

Towers of magma burst high into the air overnight, painting the sky red and spraying fiery debris onto the flanks of the Cumbre Vieja volcano.

Drone footage showed lava flowing to the coast in three huge tongues, incinerating everything in their path.

During the night between Tuesday and yesterday, the Canary Islands' vulcanology institute said the amplitude of the volcano's seismic activity intensified.

That seismic activity is "an indicator of the intensity of the strombolian explosive activity". Strombolian is an adjective describing volcanic eruptions with violent explosions.

The report was issued as the lava pouring from the flanks of the volcano had spread to cover 154ha in the towns of El Paso and Los Llanos de Aridane, according to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

The lava has been slowly burning and covering property since the Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Sunday.

About 6,000 people of the 80,000 people living on the island have been evacuated.