ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)

The skies over the Sicilian town of Catania were covered in black smoke and ash on Saturday as Mount Etna erupted.

Etna, Europe's tallest and most active volcano, sent a large plume of ash and smoke soaring some three kilometers into the sky above Catania's residential areas.

Part of a local highway was closed for half an hour as a precaution, but there were no reports of damage or evacuations in the area and the nearby airport of Catania was operating as normal, local media reported.

Etna often erupts but rarely causes damage. Whilst the eruptions themselves do not put the local population at risk, the local inhabitants do have to live with the ash showers that follow.