Saharan dust: Taking over parts of Europe this weekend

Saharan dust is expected to begin interfering with the weather across parts of Europe this weekend, and what could happen?

Strong winds have recently whipped up dust from the Sahara over Morocco and Algeria in North Africa. With a south-westerly wind, it is now being pulled up to parts of Europe, including Iberia, France, and Germany from the weekend.

At present, the orientation of the winds means it might just skim past southeast England early next week, but there is still the chance it could shift more toward us. You can check the latest on the wind direction via the WindRadar.

When ex-hurricane Ophelia hit the UK and Ireland five years ago, the storm system also dragged up a mixture of Saharan dust and smoke from Portuguese wildfires. This also caused our skies to turn an ominous-looking dusty orange color as seen above.

Due to the fine sand in the air, the sun can appear milky and cloudy. However, due to the interaction of dust particles, clouds, and other aerosols in the high-altitude air, the sky also turns more orange to red, triggering spectacular sunrises and sunsets.

The desert dust consists mainly of tiny mineral dust and can rise up to heights of 3 to 6 miles into the atmosphere. When there is also rain in the forecast, it comes out as so-called 'blood rain', when the Saharan dust falls out with the raindrops, producing red or brown-colored particles. You can find out more about the phenomenon in the video below.