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Mount Etna erupted in a fiery show of lava in eastern Sicily – sending giant orange fountains of magma spewing into the air.

The blasts can be seen from the city of Catania and the resort town of Taormina.

Authorities are now anxiously tracking an ash cloud which could ground international flights from the airport at Catania 31 miles away.

Etna's eruption could go on for weeks, experts have said.

(Image: AFP)

Etna is Europe's highest and most active volcano and the fire-spitting mountain began to eject lava on Monday night.

The Meteorological Observatory in Nunziata said: "You can clearly see the lava fountains, although currently modest, as it escapes from the crater in the southeast."

Currently there is no immediate danger posed by the volcanos – but there are fears the eruption could intensify.

(Image: REUTERS)

Video from the slopes of the mountain shows molten rock and toxic gases continuing to pour from the volcano.

Mount Etna has remained mostly dormant for the past two years.

The last major eruption was in 1992 during which an explosion from the mountain destroying the volcano's main "lava tube".

(Image: BPEARTHWATCH) (Image: GOOGLE)

Volcanologists are classing the eruption as 'Strombolian'.This category is characterized by explosive bursts of activity which blast ash and lava from the crater.

Daily Star Online previously revealed fears of a supervolcano "worse than Vesuvius" with Campi Flegrei lurking underneath Naples in Italy.

(Image: WENN) (Image: AFP)

It is one of 16 volcanoes in the world designated as Decade Volcanoes by the UN.

This means that they are studied particularly closely due to the frequency of activity and density of nearby population.

An orange air alert has been issued, meaning that airspace will remain open but authorities will continue to monitor the situation.

Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology said the eruptions don't currently present a danger to people or property.

in 1669, a massive eruption from Mount Etna is recorded to have killed more than 20,000 people.