Volcanic steam and ashes rise from Mount Etna
© ReutersVolcanic steam and ashes rise from Mount Etna
Mount Etna has begun to erupt sending huge plumes of ash into the air and leaving tourists running for their lives.

Footage shared online showed holidaymakers running along a ledge of the volcano in Sicily, with the huge ash cloud growing behind them.

The most active volcano in Europe had been experiencing some activity in the last few hours but has escalated to continuous "explosions of growing intensity", experts said.

The first volcanic tremor were felt just moments before the eruption.

The tremors began at roughly 10pm on Sunday evening before reaching a peak three hours later in the middle of the night.

The first tremor was localised at an altitude of 2.8km below the crater area, according to reports.




Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology said in a statement: "Over the past few hours, the activity flagged in the previous statement issued at 4.14am (3.14am BST) has carried on with strombolian explosions of growing intensity that, at the moment, are of strong intensity and nearly continuous. Over the past few hours, the falling of a little thin ash has been flagged in the Piano Vetore area."

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre Toulouse (Vaac) issued a brief "code red" for aviation due to the eruption. This has been downgraded to an orange aviation warning that remains in place.

They explained that an ash cloud made predominantly of water and sulphur dioxide was "drifting towards the south west".

The Volcanic Ash Advisory Centre in Toulouse, one of nine centres worldwide used to monitor aviation risks, warned that the volcanic ash plume had reached an altitude of around 6,400 metres.

The volcano previously erupted in February, sending hot lava spewing down the mountainside.

This is a breaking news story and is being updated.