Lava from La Palma volcano reaches sea after 10-day journey across island

Lava from a volcano reaches the sea at Los Guirres beach, also known as Playa Nueva, on La Palma (AP Photo/Saul Santos)

Lava from a volcano on Spain’s Canary Islands has reached the sea after 10 days of wiping out hundreds of homes and causing the evacuation of thousands of residents.

Columns of steam that experts had warned could contain toxic gases shot upward when the bright red molten rock tumbled into the Atlantic Ocean at 11pm on Tuesday.