More orange skies as Saharan sand on its way to France this weekend

This will mainly affect the south. The last such sand clouds contained radioactive particles, caused by French nuclear testing in the 1960s. This poses no danger to health

Weather patterns regularly pick up particles of sand from the Sahara desert in North Africa and transport it to Europe, covering everything with a light orange dust

Car in Europe covered in Sahara sand transported from North Africa, with the words “Sahara sand” written in the dust

Ilona Koeleman / Shutterstock

Hannah Thompson Hannah Thompson

Published Friday 25 March 2022 - 14:21 Modified Friday 25 March 2022 - 14:21

More Saharan sand is to settle in France this weekend, with the south of the country expected to be particularly affected in this latest episode.

Ths dust is expected to cause orange-hued skies and scatter rust-coloured dust across vehicles and pavements from Saturday, March 26 and last until at least Sunday, said European Earth Observation Programme, Copernicus.

Yet another #SaharanDust storm should be reaching the Mediterranean basin in the next few days

According to the forecast of @CopernicusECMWF, the dust cloud will reach Italy 🇮🇹 on 26 March

⬇️#CAMS Aerosol forecast (visualised in @Windycom) for the 24 - 27 March time period pic.twitter.com/KE86LNSZSn
— Copernicus EU (@CopernicusEU) March 24, 2022