Sicily is showered with stones as Mount Etna spews

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2513085/Mount-Etna-erupts-spews-volcanic-ash-20-miles-showering-Sicily-stones.html
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The day it rained rocks: Sicily is showered with stones as Mount Etna spews volcanic ash for 20 miles

• People in Giardini-Naxos, Italy, put up umbrellas to protect themselves
  
  
• It is the latest in a string of eruptions by Europe's most active volcano
  
• Film-maker: 'You can hear it thundering and your windows vibrating'
  
  
• Most deadly in 1669 killed 20,000 people - but most eruptions are harmless
  
  

By Dan Bloom
PUBLISHED: 05:24 EST, 25 November 2013 | UPDATED: 12:13 EST, 25 November 2013

Britain grinds to a halt with a few inches of a snow.
So spare a thought for the people of Sicily - where it has been raining sharp black rocks.
The torrent began on Saturday when Mount Etna spewed out pumice stones, dust and ash into the sky - but some of those living in the shadow of Europe's most active volcano simply carried on as normal.
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Ash: Mount Etna has erupted again, raining rocks on homes and cars in the Sicilian town of Giardini-Naxos



Stones: People have been putting up umbrellas to protect themselves from the shower of volcanic rocks


Raining ash and rocks: Residents are used to the eruptions - and even put up umbrellas to protect themselves




Eerie: The black rain has created a bizarre scene in Sicily, where townsfolk are used to the eruptions


It's raining ROCKS in Sicily thanks to Mount Etna eruption





Townsfolk are seen clearing their windscreens, driving through the dust-laden streets and even putting up umbrellas.
No residents had to be evacuated and the only disruption was when one road was closed for half an hour 'as a precaution'.
 
More...

• Spring in Sicily...and an epic encounter with Etna, the island's very own lava lout
  

Eruption: Smoke billowed from the crater of Mount Etna, Sicily, on Saturday. It is 11,000 feet high

Two of the flight paths serving nearby Catania Airport, 20 miles from the crater, were closed briefly - but not one plane had to be diverted.
A video of the otherwordly rain, which lasted about 45 minutes, has been seen more than 150,000 times on LiveLeak.
Italian film-maker Turi Scandurra's shoes crunched through the streets of his native town Giardini-Naxos, which is less than 20 miles from the volcano and has fewer than 10,000 residents.

Mr Scandurra, 32, told MailOnline: 'Ash falls from the sky about once a year but never this strongly. Usually we have some little dust but you don't get these big stones.
'As soon as it started I was trying to film the build-up on my terrace, then I looked up and the sky was huge and black. I covered my head with a sweatshirt and went out.
'The ash is not heavy but it's extremely sharp. Many cars got scratched and windshields got chipped as the stones are quite big.
'None of us were scared because Etna always reminds us of its presence. Sometimes you can hear it thundering and your windows vibrating - even the doors inside the house shudder.'

Mount Etna stands almost 11,000 feet above sea level, looming over the whole Italian island of Sicily.
Its last eruption on November 17 was even more dramatic than Saturday's blast and the mountain spewed out rivers of lava.
It has been active for thousands of years, although its first eruption of modern times was thought to be in 475 BC.