Mexico: Popocatepetl volcano spews ash and smoke into red tinted sky

Mexico's Popocatepetl volcano erupted on 24 and 25 January, belching ash and smoke across red-tinted skies. A huge column of water vapour could be seen rising above the volcano's crater.

The alert level for the towering Popocatepetl volcano, located some 50 miles to the south-east of the capital, remained at yellow phase two, Mexico's National Centre for Disaster Prevention said in a statement. It is the third-highest warning on the centre's seven-step scale.

National Civil Protection Coordinator Luis Felipe Puente said via Twitter that a total of 39 exhalations of low intensity in 24 hours have been reported, following a series of rumblings at the massive volcano in recent months.

Popocatepetl's last major eruption was in 2000, when more than 40,000 people had to evacuate. Mexico contains over 3,000 volcanos but only 14 are considered active.