The sirocco, this wind loaded with sand and dust from the Sahara, covered France and Spain on Tuesday. A phenomenon not so rare as it seems, but which this time should last several days.
A thin layer of sand from the Sahara fell in the night from Monday to Tuesday on a good part of Spain, before going up towards France, making the sky and the horizon yellowish, even orange in places.
Crossing the Pyrenees, the dust mainly passed over western France on Tuesday, where the phenomenon was particularly visible, for example in Bordeaux or La Rochelle according to Meteo Francebefore heading north.
Ocher skies in some places until Thursday
This meteorological phenomenon, strong hot winds loaded with sand dust from the Sahara desert, is called in Spain the “calima” and in France the sirocco. It is quite common, especially in the Canary archipelago, located in northwest Africa.
The “calima” this time affected Spain from the southeast to the northwest, from the region of Murcia to Cantabria, giving rise to unusual cleaning scenes and profoundly degrading air quality, according to the authorities.
If the phenomenon is not exceptional, it is however “more striking by its geographical extent and its duration of a few days”. The weather, although mostly fine over much of the country, will have hazy looking skies on Wednesday due to the still suspended sand particles. It should indeed persist, although fading until Thursday, indicated the French meteorological services.
“It’s quite remarkable to have such a long episode. There, it should cross France from Tuesday to Friday”, predicts Étienne Blot, meteorological engineer at Météo France, to our colleagues fromActu.fr. “We are far from the usual dynamic situations where the cloud passes quite quickly,” he adds.
The meteorological agency, however, ensures that the phenomenon should not be more frequent, other factors – this time non-meteorological – also coming into play. The Weather Channelwe also expect a lifting of the wind on Thursday over three quarters of France, “putting an end to this episode”.
An expected degradation of the air
Does this ocher-toned sky bring with it particular risks? Météo-France indicates that there is no operational color forecast (orange alert, red alert, etc.) because the phenomenon has no real impact on the safety of people or property.
“On the other hand, the associated air degradation is of course monitored,” says the meteorological agency, adding that this dust has an impact on air quality. A deterioration already observable on Tuesday and which will continue on Wednesday in the South West.
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