Sahara dust over south-western Europe – blood rain is possible

A low-pressure system over south-western Europe will stir up a lot of Saharan dust in the coming days.

The system will transport desert sand with southerly winds across the western Mediterranean towards the Iberian Peninsula and France.

Towards the weekend, the dust streaks will also reach parts of Central Europe.

The dust whirled up to a height of several kilometres, clouding the clear sky with a milky veil. Where the dust quantities are large, it can even appear ochre-coloured, especially where high cloud fields are passing by.

When precipitation is added to the mix, "blood rain" also becomes an issue. This will be particularly the case over the Iberian Peninsula and parts of France: the sand will be washed out of the air by rain and settle on cars, for example, as a yellowish-reddish "layer of dirt".

Towards the weekend, the dust trails in the atmosphere are likely to reach Central Europe as well.

Although they will no longer be as dense as in Spain and France, they will probably be enough to cause a milky haze in the sky here too.