A massive cloud of Sahara dust has swept across Greece, coating parts of the country in a surreal yellow-orange haze. The dust has created breathtaking scenes, with images shared online showing people witnessing the vibrant fog from hills near Athens. Others captured the orange-tinged streets on social media, with one user remarking that the city resembled “a colony of Mars.”
The meteorological service in Greece attributed the phenomenon to favorable weather conditions that transported dust from Africa. The concentrations of dust have been particularly high in the southern regions of the country, but the service anticipates a gradual decrease on Wednesday morning, with limited dust remaining in the eastern areas.
Cyprus, an eastern Mediterranean nation, has also been affected by the dust storm. A low-pressure system over northern Africa carried dust over Cyprus multiple times in mid-April, darkening skies and compromising air quality. NASA satellite imagery captured a “shroud of tan” over Cyprus on April 22nd, and the agency predicts that dust will continue to traverse the Mediterranean, impacting both Cyprus and Greece in the coming days.
The movement of dust clouds from northern Africa to Greece and other regions is a periodic occurrence, bringing limited visibility and raising concerns about respiratory risks. This spectacle in southern Europe coincides with an unusually heavy snowfall in the northern parts of the continent, which halted public transportation in southern Finland. The “freak April weather” brought over 20 centimeters of snow in some areas, causing disruptions to trams, buses, and metro services in Helsinki. Flight cancellations and delays at Helsinki Airport were also reported.
In Finland, road traffic accidents occurred due to the snow, but no serious injuries were reported. Maintenance crews faced challenges in clearing snow from power lines. While snowfall is common during winter months in Finland, a spokesperson for Helsinki’s public transport operator, HSL, described the late April weather as “unusual” and advised travelers to plan for extra travel time.
Photos showcased Helsinki residents navigating through thick snow and ice, carrying umbrellas amidst the heavy snowfall. Tall mounds of snow accumulated on sidewalks, cars, and scooters. Helsinki Airport experienced freezing rain that turned into ice upon contact with the ground, necessitating frequent runway and aircraft de-icing procedures. HSL initially canceled all tram services but gradually resumed operations in the afternoon. Maintenance teams cleared snow from tram tracks and attempted to remove ice from power lines, but the equipment used for applying glycol, an antifreeze agent, had been stored for the summer. The severity of the weather caught authorities by surprise, as stated by Antti Vigelius, head of the city’s transport organization’s maintenance unit.
