After year of calm, Mt Etna bursts into life

Mount Etna, the famous Sicilian volcano, has erupted for the first time in more than year.

Mount Etna eruption. Source: AAP

The highest volcano in Europe burst into life on Monday evening and continued to produce fountains of bright orange lava into Tuesday.

The relatively small eruption was not sufficiently powerful to cause any problems for residential centres near the peak, on the eastern side of the island, and the nearby airport at Catania continued to operate normally.

Mount Etna eruption. Source: AAP