PUPILS at a school in Abberley have experienced the northern lights during a trip to the land of fire and ice.

A group of 23 youngsters aged between 11 and 12 and three staff from Abberley Hall School spent a week in Iceland as part of their geography studies.

Will Warwick, the school’s head of geography, said they had visited a broad range of environments including rivers and waterfalls, volcanoes, glaciers, coasts, hot springs and the urban area of capital city Reykjavik.

He said pupils benefited “hugely from seeing the forces that have shaped the planet at such close hand”.

The group spent its first full day in the country’s capital and travelled on to the Thorsmork valley, close to where a volcano erupted in Eyjafjallajokull in 2010 covering the area in ash.

“Here we were able to view glaciers, snowy peaks and crystal streams where we took some fantastic pictures,” added Mr Warwick.

He said the trip allowed pupils to climb the crater rims of dormant volcanoes and see lots of coastal geography and geology, such as basalt columns, adding: “We headed back to the UK with a lot of wonderful memories, experiences, stories and photographs of the fantastic trip.”