Mount Etna erupts live as red alert issued after volcano blasts ash into the sky

Mount Etna in Sicily has erupted again today, sending huge plumes of volcanic ash into the sky and forcing the cancellation of flights at Catania Airport. The airport, which serves hundreds of thousands of British holidaymakers each year, suspended all incoming flights on Sunday. Only aircraft already on the runway were allowed to depart. Italy’s national airline, ITA Airways, confirmed that all departing and arriving flights at Catania Airport would either be cancelled or rescheduled. Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology raised the aviation alert level to red after detecting intense Strombolian activity. While the effusive lava flow, which had been active since June 26, stopped on Saturday (July 4), Strombolian eruptions - huge bursts of lava and hot rock blasted from the vent of volcano - have continued. On Sunday, Europe’s most active volcano began spewing ash from a vent on the upper eastern flank of the Voragine summit crater at around 7.45am local time. The activity intensified in the morning, with plumes of ash rising about a mile above the crater. By the evening, it was sending glowing fragments of lava into the sky.