The Daily Mail has a set of amazing photos of the Chaiten Volcano in southern Chile.

As clouds of toxic ash and dust tower into the sky, they ionise the air, generating an explosive electrical storm. Colossal forks of lightning spark around the noxious plume as it spews from the volcano’s crater, creating an image of raw, terrifying energy - as if the air itself were ablaze.

More than any damage the lava could do, most worrying is the possibility of pyroclastic flow, in which the enormous plume of ash collapses into a wave of hot gas and rock. The wave spreads across the ground at breakneck speeds with temperatures reaching up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit.

The devastating consequences were seen after the eruption of Mount Pelée, which led to the destruction of Saint-Pierre and its roughly 30,000 population.

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