Two of nature's most spectacular forces produced an incredible brew in the skies of Chile as a volcanic eruption met a lightning storm. 

Tons of dust and ash from the eruption of the Chaitin volcano poured into the night sky

just as an electric storm passed overhead. The resulting collision created a spectacular sight as lightning flickered around the dust 

cloud amid the orange glow of the volcano. 

The eruption was all the more spectacular because the Chaitin volcano,800 miles (1,290km)south of Santiago,has been dormant for hundreds 

- if not thousands - of years. The Patagonian volcano began erupting on Friday

and the 12-mile-high plume has left vast tracts of land coated with a layer of ash.