France under a cloud of sand from the Sahara

A powerful southerly flow is bringing a large amount of Saharan sand to the country until Wednesday. Discover the images of the south-west covered in sand this Tuesday, from the mountains of the Pyrenees to the coasts of the Atlantic.

After the bad weather over the weekend which generated torrential rains in western Hérault, the return of drier weather is accompanied by a vigorous southerly flow. This brings upair soft, but also to transport large quantities of sand from the Sahara to France and beyond, towards the British Isles and the Netherlands. The autan wind blew up to 100 km / h in the Southwest on Monday, propelling these dust particles across the whole region. A situation that occurs on average one to three times a year in the south of France, with varying intensity.

Dusty skies, colorful mountains and a pollution episode

This week’s episode is quite strong, especially this Tuesday, and a significant layer of sand has covered the Pyrenean peaks, making them look like Sahara dunes!

Sand is also present on the roadways and cars from the Occitanie region, but also more slightly to the north of France.

That rising sand is not insignificant, since during the strongest episodes, a fine particle pollution peak can be registered. This degradation of air quality linked to PM10 particles is likely to aggravate respiratory problems in people who are already sensitive.

This atmosphere dusty also has another consequence, that of veiling the sky, and even coloring it during the strongest episodes. This Tuesday and Wednesday, the sky will probably appear veiled over a large part of the country, limiting the intensity of the rays of Sun. It is even possible that this milky sky takes on a slightly orange color and an impression of “red sun”, as has already happened in recent years in the same type of situation. weather report. In Algeria and Spain on Monday, the sky turned red, giving an apocalyptic atmosphere over southern Europe and the Maghreb.