Black dust which meteorologists believe was belched out of Mount Etna in Sicily had Cottonera residents reaching for brooms and washing machines yesterday morning.

The black, soot-like dust began falling on Thursday evening but had stopped by sunrise, coating clothes, yards and windows with a film of residue.

People living in the Cottonera area bore the brunt of the volcanic ash, although there were reports of black dust in other localities in the inner harbour region.

According to an official at the Malta International Airport’s meteorological office, the reports were perfectly in line with predictions of Mount Etna-induced ash reaching Maltese shores.

“We had issued an aviation warning alerting pilots to the possible presence of dust caused by Mount Etna,” he said.

“For aviation purposes, the dust had effectively settled by Thursday evening but wind and other factors might have carried it further and meant it landed on the ground a bit later.”

He said it was impossible to accurately predict whether any further dust incidents would occur.

A spokesman for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority said reports of black dust were received.

“It is possible that the source of this material, which is being recorded in a number of localities, is volcanic ash from Sicily,” he added.

Vittoriosa resident Geir Fagerhus, 51, likened the dust to “dark copper”.

“At first I thought it was Saharan sand but it was far too dark for that. We’ve had small amounts of black dust in the past but nothing on this scale,” said Mr Fagerhus, who designs maritime software for a living.

IT manager Mark Degiorgio, 32, had a similar experience at his Cospicua home, discovering what looked like coarse soot on his roof yesterday morning.

“We get some black dust from time to time. The last time was probably last summer though there was more this time round,” he said.

The 10,900-foot high Mount Etna is Europe’s most active volcano, with over eight reported eruptions since 2000.

It is not unusual for volcanic ash to drift to Malta, 300-odd kilometres away.

Back in October 2002, a large ash plume caused by a Mount Etna eruption had coated much of the island in black dust, with a similar incident also reported in 2001.