Airlines cancel half-term holiday flight arrangements, while EasyJet suspends ALL Athens services as Mount Etna spews ash.

  • Mount Etna showed most violent volcanic activity today since start of eruptions in February this year
  • CLoud, thick smoke and ash billowed into the skies and covered cars and streets in towns over 20 miles from each other.
  • Activity cancelled several half-term holiday flights from Britain, including all to Athens.

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Holidaymakers were hit hard by new volcanic activity at Mount Etna today, with many half-term flights being cancelled.

Europe’s most active volcano today violently spewed clouds of ash and smoke high into the sky – covering cars and streets miles away.

The clouds also caused cancellations of several flights from British and European airports today. 

Some passengers with British Airways were left furious when their flight from London Heathrow to Athens was cancelled with less than an hour’s notice.

Italy's biggest volcano today spewed clouds of ash and smoke high into the sky covering streets in cars miles away

Today, Italy’s largest volcano erupted into the sky, igniting clouds of ash and smoke that covered cars miles away.

One person tweeted British Airways: “Athens flight delayed due to volcanicash (fair enough), but the response by Heathrow staff is completely inept. Lack of organization.

Etna erupted multiple times earlier in the year, beginning in February. However, the ongoing activity was reported as being particularly violent.

It is located between the African tectonic plates and the Eurasian tectonic plate, and it produces almost constant eruptions with varying degrees.

It produces more than tens to millions of tons of lava each year and more than 7 million tons of carbon dioxide and water.

Its most recent eruption, which caused nearly a dozen injuries, occurred in March 2017.

But eruptions are known to have occurred as far back 1500 BC. A devastating eruption in 1169 caused an earthquake that killed around 15,000 people.

In 1992, lava rushed down its slope and threatened Zafferana (a town of 7,000) in what was thought to be the largest flank eruption in 300-years.

To divert the flow of lava, soldiers used controlled explosives.  

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