Brits spending the Christmas period in the Canary Islands have been sent a warning as the archipelago is set to be rocked by a weather phenomenon over the next few days.
Weather experts have warned of a severe case of “calima” – which sees billions of particles of dust from Saharan Africa fill the air, transforming the sky with a yellow or red haze.
According to meteorologists at El Tiempo, the calima will “strongly” impact the Canary Islands, particularly its eastern isles, from Christmas Eve.
It said in a report: “The haze in the Canary Islands will cause visibility to be poor, and it is foreseeable that the air quality will worsen considerably.”
So far this week, the islands have been battered by rain and storms, which has seen accumulations in Tenerife and La Palma of more than 10mm at times. Stability is set to resume during the afternoon of Christmas Eve, but after the rain the calima will take over the archipelago.
The report continued: “The atmosphere will favour the entry of a mass of Saharan air with a high load of suspended dust.
“From the end of Tuesday [December 24], and especially during the early hours and morning of Christmas Day, the skies will be covered in suspended dust.
“The density of the haze will be greater in the eastern islands, where very high concentrations of dust are expected. This will cause, in addition to the cloudy skies, a strong deterioration of the air quality in the whole area.”
The calima is expected to last on the islands until the end of December 26.
The primary cause of Kalima is the movement of air masses over the Sahara. The desert’s arid environment causes the soil to become fine and easily lifted by strong winds, which are capable of lifting millions of tons of sand and dust into the atmosphere.
Some clouds of sand reach up to 6,000 metres in altitude.
The dust particles that settle also cause respiratory problems, especially for people with pre-existing respiratory conditions. Therefore, it is best for people to wear respiratory masks if they have to go outdoors when there is calima.
Weather conditions can also become so poor that public services are forced to be suspended, In January 2002, the Santa Cruz International Airport had to be closed because visibility fell to less than 50 metres.
In 2020, the wind spread three wildfires, forcing about 2,000 residents to evacuate in Tenerife and Gran Canaria. The latter had the worst air quality in the world that weekend due to the dust, with about 40 times the particle density considered safe by the World Health Organization.
This resulted in 745 flights being canceled and 84 others diverted to different airports.