Mount Etna blows incredible vortex smoke rings during spectacular display

07 April 2024 , 20:35

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The smoke rings above Mount Etna (Image: No credit)

Images shows striking and very rare smoke rings drifting up into the blue sky from Europe largest active volcano.

Tourists caught the moment Mount Etna in Sicily, Italy blew rare volcanic vortex rings. The phenomenon happens when the circles made of vapour are generated by the release of rapid gas and comes after the opening of a new circular crater. The eye-catching spectacle could be seen in the sky above the volcano from around 1pm in the afternoon on April 5. Juliet and Richard, from London, were holidaying in Sicily with their two young sons when they witnessed the rings.

Juliet said: "It was amazing and out of this world. Our coach driver who took us up the mountain was so excited as he hadn't seen rings like that for ten years - he said he was going to call it 'Ring Day'. We knew we were witnessing something special." The volcano sits above the town of Bronte, on Sicily at 11,014 feet and activity had been recorded there for more than 3,500 years.

Thousands of travellers had their flights diverted or cancelled due to the eruption of Mount Etna last summer. A huge plume of ash burst out of the top of the Sicilian natural wonder, spreading across the eastern part of the Italian island. It caused Catania airport to close first until 1pm, and then until 8pm.

The airport was due to handle 235 flights on August 14 last year, according to aviation data experts Cirium, meaning very large numbers of passengers were stuck on the island. Motorbikes and bicycles were also banned on the island for 48 hours due to the risk of slipping on the blanket of volcanic ash.

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Tourists watched the rare phenomenon (No credit)

In a statement the airport said: “Due to Etna’s eruptive activity and fallout of volcanic ash, flight operations are suspended until 8:00 pm.” Catania is around 50km south of the volcano and it previously had to suspend flights last May due to an eruption. The airport was also temporarily closed between mid-July and early August because of fire damage. The fire led to thousands of flights being cancelled or diverted, leading many tourists to cancel their holidays to avoid being caught up in the chaos.

Mount Etna is the most active volcano in Europe (No credit)

And in 2018 the volcano erupted, sending a huge cloud of ash into the sky and causing flight chaos. A chain of around 130 earth tremors have rocked the volcano since around 8am, Italy's National Institute for Geophysics and Volcanology said, with the strongest posting a magnitude of 4.0.

Tim Hanlon