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A huge sandstorm from the Sahara desert has blanketed much of southern and eastern Europe, causing air pollution to reach up to 10 times recommended levels in Mediterranean holiday hotspots such as Greece and Malta.
Copernicus, the EU’s monitoring service, said the dust cloud “may have a negative impact on air quality in affected countries, leading to limited visibility and muddy rain mixed with rain and dust.”
It comes after a similar dust cloud enveloped the Iberian Peninsula and affected Spain and Portugal last week.
Images from the Sentinel 3 satellite show a dust cloud hovering over southern Italy, Malta, Greece, Libya and Tunisia.
Visibility was poor in Athens, and authorities on the Greek island of Crete issued a health alert, citing airborne particles well above 50 micrograms per cubic meter.
People with respiratory illnesses, young children and the elderly were encouraged to stay indoors as much as possible.
Theodoros Kollidas, head of Greece’s National Meteorological Center, said pollutants and air particles should clear up within a few days as the wind direction changes.
“Dust has reached the Baltic Sea today and is covering much of central and eastern Europe,” he tweeted.
One Greek resident described the thick atmosphere caused by the phenomenon as “like the air being filled with custard powder.”
The Met Office at the Royal Air Force base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, tweeted a satellite photo showing thick high clouds (colored red) approaching the island from the west.
Visibility was reduced to 3 to 9 miles due to dust.
Particle levels reached 514 micrograms per cubic meter in Malta on Wednesday morning, according to the Times of Malta. The World Health Organization guidelines state that the average value over a 24-hour period should not exceed 45.
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