A Saharan dust storm that blew into Europe is entering its second straight day, blanketing major cities on the continent in a cloud of particles.
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While visually striking, the dust cloud tinting Europe’s skies in a red/orange hue is also making it hard to breathe in large parts of Spain.
Cleaning crews in Spain, France, Portugal and Germany are working to remove the layer of dust particles that has settled on cars and buildings.
A worker cleans a lion statue in front of the Spanish Congress building which is covered with Saharan dust, on 15 March, 2022 in Madrid.
Marta Fernandez Jara/Getty Images
Spain continues to face the brunt of the storm but UK forecasters have predicted that the cloud will also reach the British Isles.
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Some UK residents have already begun noticing dust.
Spain’s national air quality index deemed most of the southern and central regions of the country to have “extremely unfavourable” air quality.
The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said that is tracking the dust cloud and that air quality has also degraded in Portugal and France.
Spanish authorities are recommending that people wear face masks and avoid exercising outdoors, especially those with respiratory diseases.
A cyclist rides near the Albaicin neighbourhood in Granada covered by a saharan dust haze on March 15, 2022.
Álex Cámara/Getty Images
Rubén del Campo, a spokesperson for Spain’s weather service, told AP News that “The air will then begin to clear little by little, although some floating dust will reach the Canary Islands (in the Atlantic Ocean) over the weekend.”
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On Spain’s southern coast, the dust particles from the storm mixed with rain over Málaga.
“It is like it was raining mud,” Álvaro López, a student at the University of Málaga, said to AP News.
“I was in the car this morning and mud was literally falling.”
The cloud started when a storm pushed a mass of hot air from the Sahara Desert over the Mediterranean Sea. That same storm brought some much-needed rain for Spain’s drought-ridden crops, but also pushed temperatures up to 20 C.
Spain’s weather service characterized the dust storm as “extraordinary and very intense.”
Del Campo is unsure if climate change is the direct cause of this dust storm, but he noted that the recent expansion of the Sahara Desert has made larger dust storms far more likely — increasing the chance that Europe will be affected by future storms.
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Extreme weather patterns, which are linked to climate change, may also be playing a part, according to del Campo.
Take a look below for more images of Europe under the dust cloud.
Dust arrives in Murcia, Spain, tinting the skies a bright orange colour.
Javier Carrion/Getty Images
This photograph shows sand from the Sahara that fell overnight covering the snow at the Piau-Engaly ski resort in southern France.
Bastien Arberet/Getty Images
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Dust from the Saharan desert colours the sky over Munich a yellowish hue and creates a special light atmosphere.
Sven Hoppe/Getty Images
An elderly man cleans his window sill with a mop as the city of Burgos wakes up with cars and roofs covered in sand.
orge Contreras Soto/Getty Images
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Journalists stand in front of a window in the Bavarian parliament.
Sven Hoppe/Getty Images
Some birds fly through the Albaicin neighborhood with the Alhambra in the background blurred by the Saharan dust in Granada, Spain.
Carlos Gil Andreu/Getty Images
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Sonja Hermann, an employee at the Legoland theme park in Bavaria, frees a Lego model of the city of Berlin from Saharan dust in Miniland.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Getty Images
Two tourists look at the Albaicin neighborhood and Alhambra monument blurred by the Saharan dust in Granada, Spain.
Carlos Gil Andreu/Getty Images
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Taken from the top of the Strasbourg cathedral, the eastern France city of Strasbourg is covered by an orange light as Sahara dust moves in over the city.
Jean-Francois Badias/AP Photos
Dust from the Sahara colours the sky over the Alps in reddish hues.
Karl-Josef Hildenbrand/Getty Images
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Cars covered with sand as Burgos, Spain wakes.
Jorge Contreras Soto/Getty Images
A woman observes the haze from the viewpoint of Cerro del Tio Pio in Madrid, Spain.
Carlos Lujan/Getty Images
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A parking area in Granada is covered by Saharan dust.
Álex Cámara/Getty Images