Sand colors the Lyon sky, February 6, 2021. -

KONRAD K./SIPA

From this weekend, dust of sand from the Sahara should again fly over Europe.

It is not yet known whether this phenomenon will color the sky as at the beginning of February, warns the European service of surveillance of the atmosphere Copernicus.

The first weekend of February, the sky was tinged with ocher yellow, in particular over the south and east of France when a cloud of dust from sandstorms in Algeria passed by, swept away by winds up north.

An episode which had also led to a significant deterioration in air quality in the regions overflown.

From Spain to Norway

A new "large" and "thick" plume of Saharan dust is moving north and "is expected to affect parts of Europe over the weekend and early next week," Copernicus said in a statement on Friday. .

The #CopernicusAtmosphere Monitoring Service is forecasting another substantial Saharan desert dust event affecting Europe this Sunday to Monday, which is expected to bring high levels of particulate matter.



Read more detail ➡️https: //t.co/ZLTk9BwqSy pic.twitter.com/lKrwMECKXP

- Copernicus ECMWF (@CopernicusECMWF) February 19, 2021

The main volume is expected to focus on eastern Spain and northern France, but the cloud could reach as far as Norway.

“We have observed similar events in recent weeks with significant impacts on air quality in the affected regions,” comments Mark Parrington, Scientific Director at Copernicus.

Degraded air quality

“We believe that will be the case for the upcoming event as well, although it is not yet certain to what extent the plume will be visible to the naked eye,” he notes.

"Desert dust plumes can cause red skies, limited visibility, or spots on cars and windows from dust deposits, but these impacts are difficult to predict quantitatively four or five days in advance," he adds.

Copernicus, on the other hand, already predicts a deterioration in air quality in Spain, France and perhaps in the United Kingdom and in the Benelux countries, warning against the impact of this dust on the respiratory tract and deposits on the ground especially for companies.

The previous plume passed over Europe between February 4 and 8 had resulted in the deposition of several micrograms of particles per square meter over a large part of southern Europe, an amount "several hundred times greater" than the average, said Copernicus.

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