The Canary Islands are having a severe case of a weather phenomenon called calima where visibility is likely to be reduced significantly over the coming days
Brit holidaymakers who are spending the festive period in the Canary Islands are being warned of a severe weather phenomenon where visibility can be rapidly reduced.
The national weather agency in Spain has advised about the extreme 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.
And according to meteorologists, the calima will “strongly” impact the Canary Islands, particularly its eastern isles, from Christmas Eve. “The haze in the Canary Islands will cause visibility to be poor, and it is foreseeable that the air quality will worsen considerably,” states a local weather forecast.
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 calima 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.
For Brits staying on the islands the skies will remain mostly cloudy and maximum temperatures will rise slightly today with the most pleasant temperatures will be on the coast. But with some showers and temperatures in the low to mid teens it is unlikely to be much warmer than the UK which is having a very mild Christmas.
