Greece blanketed by large dust storm
Greece, nearby countries turned orange thanks to storm
Athens, Greece (CNN) - A yellow to orange haze of dust from the Sahara desert blanketed parts of Greece this week, prompting authorities to issue warnings, while creating spectacular space-like scenes.
Weather conditions on Tuesday favored the movement of dust from Africa, which showed an “increased concentrations in the atmosphere” particularly in southern parts of the country according to the Greek meteorological service.
However, the spread of the dust affecting the country will gradually begin to decrease throughout Wednesday, the service said, noting that “a significant decrease in concentration is predicted from midday onwards, when it will be limited to the east.”
Videos and images shared online showed people in Athens observing the yellow and orange fog from the hills near the capital city. Others took evening walks in the city and shared the bright orange scenes on social media. One user posted that meteorologists have said the bright orange dust has made Athens look like “a colony of Mars.”
The eastern Mediterranean country of Cyprus has also been affected by the dust. A low-pressure system over northern Africa swept dust over Cyprus several times during mid-April. The impacts were felt region wide with “darkening skies and reducing air quality,” NASA said Tuesday.
An image from NASA’s Terra satellite showed “a shroud of tan” over Cyprus on April 22nd. Dust was expected to continue to cross the Mediterranean, impacting both Cyprus and Greece, with heavy dust over the next several days, NASA said.
Clouds of dust moving from northern Africa to Greece and other regions is a phenomenon that occurs occasionally, bringing limited visibility and prompting warnings of breathing risks.
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