The skies above Andalucia have turned opaque as the so-called ‘calima’ rolls into Spain – just in time for rainstorms on Friday.
The weather phenomenon is caused when billions of Saharan dust particles are picked up by northerly winds and carried high into the sky, before being blown across the Mediterranean sea and into Andalucia.
The skies typically turn orange or red, while the atmosphere becomes noticeably more humid.
If it rains, drops of water pick up the tiny particles of sand and carry them to the ground. This is often referred to as ‘blood rain’ or ‘mud rain’, and can leave homes, cars and any other objects in its path covered in specs of dirt.
According to meteorologists at El Tiempo, the ‘calima’ will affect the majority of the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands throughout this coming weekend.
The conditions are being brought in by Storm Olivier, which made landfall in Spain on Wednesday.
El Tiempo said on Thursday afternoon: ‘The weather in Spain is expected to be marked by storms and showers over the next few days.
‘They will be accompanied by calima (rain), so we will have mud rain. The rain could be especially intense in the areas of Galicia, western Andalucia and Extremadura.
‘Looking ahead to next week, a new low pressure zone will bring further precipitation.
‘Temperatures will continue to drop, with a sharper decline in the middle of next week.’
It comes after a series of weather alerts were extended into Friday across Andalucia.
The most serious alerts are facing the province of Cadiz, 90% of which has been placed under an orange warning by state weather agency Aemet.
Aemet uses a traffic light system of yellow, orange and red, to measure weather events, with red being the most severe, indicating an extreme risk to safety.
Cadiz is being warned of gales of between 70km/hr and 100km/hr for all of Thursday and until 6am on Friday.
In Malaga, this historic city of Ronda is under a yellow alert until the same time tomorrow, with Aemet predicting winds of up to 80km/hr.
The Costa del Sol is on a yellow alert from midnight tonight until 2.59pm Friday for rough sea conditions that could bring four-metre waves.
In Almeria, an orange warning is in place along the coastline over the same period, as 75km/hr winds risk causing monster seven-metre waves.
In Almeria city, winds of up to 70km/hr will last until at least 5.59am on Friday, with a yellow alert in place from midnight until then.
The Granada coastline, meanwhile, is on an orange alert from midnight until 8.59am Friday, with 70km/hr gusts to bring waves of up to four metres.
