Athens: Strong winds carrying dust from the Sahara Desert turned the sky “orange” over Athens and other Greek cities on Tuesday. Social media was full of orange images of the Greek capital as both locals and tourists were stunned by the phenomenon. One user posted a video of their windshield covered in sand, while another branded the scene as “apocalyptic” as they posted footage of their surroundings on X.
As per Sky News, the orange sky over Greece deteriorated the air quality and spiked temperatures, officials called it one of the worst such incidents since 2018. Tuesday’s maximum temperature in some areas of the southern Greek island of Crete reached above 30 degrees Celsius, which is more than 20 degrees warmer than the temperature recorded in most of northern Greece.
In the south of the nation, the strong southerly winds also stoked early flames that weren’t normally there. In the last 24 hours, 25 wildfires have started nationwide, according to the fire department. Separately, cops reportedly said that three people were arrested on the Aegean Sea resort island of Paros on suspicion of accidentally starting a scrub blaze on Monday.
The yellow-orange haze limited visibility and prompted warnings from the authorities of breathing risks as per a report from The Guardian. As per a report by NDTV “It’s one of the most serious episodes of dust and sand concentrations from the Sahara since March 21-22, 2018, when the clouds invaded the island of Crete in particular,” said Kostas Lagouvardos, weather research director at the Athens Observatory.
Authorities issued a warning, stating that anyone with underlying health issues may be in danger due to the dust concentrations’ ability to decrease sunlight and raise concentrations of tiny pollution particles. According to the Greek weather service, Wednesday would see the start of a clear sky. “What’s going on – I never saw this – It’s completely Orange – the Sun should be there,” a user on X submitted a video.
“Yea I witnessed the weirdest sky over Athens yesterday,” another person replied. According to experts, the Eastern Mediterranean will see temperatures that are more in line with typical for this time of year as the week goes on, coupled with a return of cleaner, fresher air.
