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Bomb squads have searched many schools but no devices have been found
Schools across Italy have received bomb threats for the second day in a row, sparking fresh panic and evacuations.
Some 3,778 schools, from Milan in the north to Sicily in the south, reported similar threats to one that created chaos on Wednesday - even though no explosive devices have been found.
The government has advised schools that "in the absence of concrete evidence beyond the simple receipt of a mass email indicating a danger, buildings must not not be evacuated". Unlike a day earlier, only 77 schools were evacuated on Thursday, authorities say.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni says her government will come up with "sector-specific" advice to help those facing this kind of threat.
Schools in Scotland and Northern Ireland received threats on Wednesday, too. It is unclear whether the incidents are connected.
On Thursday morning, a bomb alert at a Calais rail station delayed international and national train services in northern France.
The latest incidents follow a series of bomb hoaxes last week against airports and airlines in a number of European countries.
Although a number of threats were claimed by an extremist misogynistic group, it later denied any link to the false warnings.
Wednesday's email threat - sent to 6,300 out of a total of 7,476 Italian state schools - was said to be from a certain "Mikhail Andropov, leader of Vilayat di Misoginistan".
Some officials say it originated in Taiwan.
A similar message sent to Italian schools on Thursday, again signed by Mikhail Andropov, is said to have been sent from the account of a teacher in the Philippines whose account is believed to have been hacked.
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Many parents, though, are concerned and have been demanding clarity and action from the government.
La Repubblica newspaper reports that protests have been held against a decision by the headmaster of a secondary school in Rome who did not take any action, saying she had realised the threatening message to contain typos and therefore be "fake".
According to the newspaper, protesters want new national guidelines to be issued.
Russian extremist group denies sending hoax bomb threats
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These children had to leave their primary school in Rome as a result of one of the threats sent on Wednesday
Some 6,300 schools across Italy and more than 700 in Scotland and Northern Ireland have received bomb threats, according to local authorities.
In Italy a number of buildings were evacuated as a precaution but Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said checks so far had not indicated any evidence of "concrete danger".
"These reports appear rather linked to a strategy intended to cause alarm and concern," she said on Facebook.
Scotland's education secretary Mairi McAllan said there was no risk to the public and specialist cyber-crime officers were working to identify the source of the messages. In Northern Ireland education officials told schools to remain open unless otherwise advised by police.
It is unclear whether the incidents are connected.
"As a parent and as a constituency MSP I understand just how concerning this will be for parents, for pupils, for carers and for school staff," McAllan said.
Scottish police had earlier said that the warnings were "immediately assessed" as hoaxes. However some local authorities confirmed that some schools had been evacuated.
"Our advice is that there is no requirement to evacuate schools or keep children away from education based solely on the content of the emails," Police Scotland said.
Italian officials said a single email appeared to have been sent on Wednesday to the inboxes of 6,300 out of a total of 7,476 state schools, and private schools were unaffected.
The message, said to be from a certain "Mikhail Andropov, leader of Vilayat di Misoginistan", caused alarm in many schools.
The BBC has seen the email sent to Scottish schools which appeared to have similar wording, and also referenced the name Mikhail Andropov, although as leader of a "Red Owl" project.
Italy's Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara said the incidents involving Italian schools were probably a "cyber-attack, not a genuine risk", adding that there appeared to be a clear strategy behind the rash of threats in across Europe targeting flights, supermarkets and even hospitals.
Italian airports along with airlines elsewhere in Europe were hit by a series of bomb hoaxes last week that prompted a series of scares, evacuations and widespread disruption.
Although a number of threats were claimed by an extremist misogynistic group, it later denied any link to the false warnings.
No risk to public from hoax school bomb threats, says government minister
Police treating threatening email sent to more than 300 schools as 'hoax'
On Wednesday one Milan headteacher, Anna Bertato, told Italian media she had checked the email address of the sender online: "It was already classified as spam by a student at a university in Taiwan."
Another Milan headteacher, Massimo Nunzio Barrella, told Adnkronos news agency that he had immediately realised the email was spam when it arrived in his inbox at 08:59 and he decided not to evacuate his school and reassured parents who phoned in.
"The text seemed almost comical," said Barrella, "it was like a message from Martians: 'We have come to annihilate you.' I even had a bit of a laugh."
Although many schools were initially evacuated on Wednesday, the alarm was quickly lifted, and pupils were allowed to return to class. Some parents decided to take their children home for the day, but the majority of schools in Milan did not send their pupils home.
Some 280 school head teachers had already received threats in recent days, according to Italian reports.
In a statement, the head of the central Umbria region Stefania Proietti said "checks conducted so far in Umbrian schools have proved negative, and law enforcement is working rapidly and carefully to verify each report".
Russian extremist group denies sending hoax bomb threats
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