Officials have closed off areas of Mt. Etna to visitors as a new round of volcanic activity provided another spectacular show.

According to Marco Puleo, a guide for the southern side of the volcano, areas above 2,500 meters were put off limits after an automatic alert system noted increased activity.

At dusk on Thursday, drone footage captured streams of glowing orange lava oozing down its slopes and once the sun when down orange balls of lava shot up into the night sky.

Excursions are popular on Etna, which is some 3,300 meters (nearly 11,000 feet) high, with a surface area of some 1,200 square kilometers (about 460 square miles.)

Etna is the largest active volcano in Europe.