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A worker cleans the dust from the Sahara desert at Sol square in Madrid on Tuesday. Manu Fernandez/PA
Dust Cloud

Met Éireann: Saharan dust cloud not going to affect Ireland

The dust storm swirling over Europe made it hard to breathe in large parts of Spain for a second day today.

SAHARAN DUST MOVING across Europe is not expected to affect Ireland, according to Met Éireann.

It comes as parts of southern Spain have been blanketed following a thick plume which has turned skies orange, with satellite images clearly showing the dust over France.

The dust storm swirling over Europe made it hard to breathe in large parts of Spain for a second day today, and left a film of dirt on cars and buildings in France and Portugal.

Speaking to The Journal, Met Éireann forecaster Deirdre Lowe said: “We have a satellite picture of it showing up over Portugal and Spain and France, but it’s not gonna affect us.”

“Maybe it could clip the Southeast of England, but it’s not going to affect us,” she said.

In order for the dust to get down from the sky, rain is needed to wash it out of the sky. Lowe said that while Ireland is expecting a southeasterly wind over the weekend, it would have to rain to cause the dust to fall “and it’s not going to rain”. 

The UK Met Office has said the dust cloud, which is 2km above ground level, may fall during showers in southern parts of the country in the afternoon.

Richard Miles, of the Met Office, told the PA news agency: “Storm Celia over Spain is indeed pulling a dust cloud up from the Sahara, which could potentially reach as far as the south of the UK.

“However, we don’t expect significant impacts – the most likely would be on the cloudscapes at sunset, but as conditions are likely to be generally overcast and wet for much of the day this is unlikely to amount to much. There are no air quality warnings.

“People in the south might find a bit of dust left on their cars as the rain washes it out of the skies today.”

Degraded air quality

The European Union’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service said it is tracking the large cloud that has “degraded air quality across large parts of Spain, Portugal and France”.

While Spain is bearing the brunt of the storm, the dust spread much further afield, dumping ochre-coloured blobs on cars in Paris after mixing with falling rain, and coating buildings in Lisbon with a fine powder.

Spain’s national weather service said the particles could reach as far north as the Netherlands and western Germany.

The area of Spain rated by its national air quality index as “extremely unfavourable” – its worst rating – expanded from the start of the storm on Tuesday to include most of the nation’s southern and central regions, including Madrid and other major cities like Seville.

Authorities recommended people wear face masks – still widely in use because of the coronavirus pandemic – and avoid outdoor exercise, especially those suffering respiratory diseases.

Madrid’s sky was tinged a dirty grey, with visibility reduced for a large swathe of the country.

 Municipal cleaners swept up the dust from city streets, and photos on social media included images of red-tinged snow on a mountain range near Madrid.

In Spain’s south, the dust mixed with rain to produce mud.

Ruben del Campo, spokesman for Spain’s weather service, said the largest quantities of air-borne dust will accumulate in south-east and central regions on Wednesday afternoon.

“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,” he said.

To the relief of farmers, the storm front that pulled in the African dust is also forecast to bring more rain over the coming days to Spain’s parched fields and descending reservoirs.

With reporting from the Press Association

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