The level of alert due to the volcanic activity was raised at Catania Airport, but no immediate interruptions were reported

A particularly spectacular blast from Italy’s Mount Etna volcano has sent out a towering cloud of ash and lava stone onto Sicilian villages, the latest in a series of explosions since mid-February.

Mount Etna, the volcano that towers over eastern Sicily, evokes superlatives. It is Europe’s most active volcano and also the continent’s largest.

Mount Etna has awed even seasoned volcanologists in recent days with spectacular spurts of lava lighting up the Sicilian sky each night.