Watch: Sahara Dust Storm Causes “Apocalyptic” Orange Skies Over Greece

On Tuesday, the sky above Athens and other Greek towns became apocalyptic “orange” due to strong winds transporting dust from the Sahara Desert. Both residents and visitors to Greece were astounded by the phenomenon, and social media was flooded with orange photos of the capital city. A person shared a video of their sand-covered windshield on X, while another user described the circumstances as “apocalyptic” when posting a video of their surroundings on Twitter.

See the video:

https://x.com/EKC_DAO/status/1783053722261627145

As reported by SkyNews, the orange sky above Greece caused temperatures to soar and the air quality to worsen, with authorities citing this as one of the worst instances since 2018. Tuesday’s maximum temperature in certain 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 much of northern Greece.

In the south of the nation, the strong southerly winds also stoked early flames that weren’t normally there. According to the fire department, in the last 24 hours, there have been 25 wildfires that have started nationwide. Separately, authorities also said that three people were taken into custody on the island resort of Paros in the Aegean Sea on Monday, suspected of inadvertently igniting a brush fire.

According to The Guardian, the authorities issued respiratory danger warnings due to the yellow-orange haze, which also made vision difficult. According to Kostas Lagouvardos, head of meteorological research at the Athens Observatory, “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.”

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 meteorological service, Wednesday will 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.

“Yeah, I witnessed the weirdest sky over Athens yesterday,” another person said.

According to experts, the Eastern Mediterranean will see temperatures that are more in line with what is typical for this time of year as the week goes on, coupled with a return of cleaner, fresher air.