A man and a dog stand on a hill as storm Celia blows sand from the Sahara desert over Madrid
(Picture: REUTERS/)Madrid residents have been told to stay indoors by Spanish officials after a huge sandstorm from the Sahara dumped dust across the capital.
Spain’s national air quality index have deemed the air in the capital and large parts of the south-east coast to be “extremely unfavourable” – its worst rating.
The weather service described the dust storm from the Sahara as “extraordinary and very intense”.
It was forecast the dust will continue to accumulate through until Wednesday and could reach northwards as far as the Netherlands and north-western Germany.
Many people woke up in Madrid on Tuesday to find a layer of red dust covering terraces, streets and cars.
The sky in the capital and other cities had a gritty tinge to them.
Visibility in Madrid and cities like Granada and Leon was reduced to 2.5 miles, the weather service said.
Emergency authorities have recommended citizens use face masks if they go outside and avoid outdoor exercise.
The wave of hot air has also affected the air quality in areas north of Madrid, as far west as in Spain’s Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean where these events are more frequent, and in the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean.
The mass of hot air from Africa, which was brought in by a storm that delivered some much-needed rain for drought-hit Spain, has also pushed up temperatures in some areas to 20C, according to the weather service.
Ruben del Campo, a spokesman for Spain’s weather service, said it was unclear if climate change had a direct link to this episode and cited the expansion of the Sahara desert over the past century has increased the potential for larger dust storm events in Europe.
He also said the increasingly turbulent weather patterns linked to climate change could play a part.
“There are many concerns regarding the impact that climate change is having on the patterns of the frequency and intensity of the storms that favour the arrival of dust to our country,” Mr del Campo said.
