A volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali sent ash up to 4,000m into the air yesterday in the most powerful series of eruptions so far, triggering flight disruptions and leaving thousands of tourists stranded.

Indonesia's volcanology centre has put out a red alert, banning planes from flying above the area.

But Bali's main Ngurah Rai airport remained open yesterday, although flights were affected. The airport on neighbouring Lombok was closed later in the day, as the ash cloud was moving to the south-east of the crater towards the island.

AirAsia tweeted that all flights to and from Bali and Lombok were either cancelled or rescheduled.

The volcano also erupted last Saturday, with ash going up 1,500m.

The mountain's last major eruption occurred in 1963, killing more than 1,000 people.

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