CATANIA – The spate of eruptive activity in recent weeks on Mount Etna, the most active volcano in Europe, has been “accelerating," ever since an unusually powerful eruption earlier in February, said the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology who monitor the mountain at the Etneo Observatory.

  During the night of Feb. 10, Mount Etna erupted dramatically, causing a lightning storm. The mountain has remained highly active ever since.

 On Monday the volcano produced an enormous cloud of ash, approximately 12 k.m. (7.5 miles) high, and an intense fountain of lava from the south-east crater.

 The ash cloud is heading in the south-easterly direction and Vincenzo Bellini international airport in Catania was closed Monday lunchtime as a result. Limited air traffic has since resumed but will be "restricted until the end of the Etna emergency," the airport posted on social media.

 Although the activity is worrying locals, authorities say there is no danger to them at this point. Italy's civil protection agency said that the ash has been falling on nearby towns, but no property damage or injuries have been reported.

ln