GRAN CANARIA, Spain – A sandstorm from Sahara hit Spain’s Canary Islands limiting visibility, coating the islands with orange dust and causing a diversion of all incoming flights on Sunday.
So far, 144 flights have been affected and it is yet to be confirmed on how long the airports would remain closed.
Outbound services were still operational to an extent from Fuerteventura and Lanzarote but other flights to and from the Canary Islands have been cancelled or diverted.
Long queues of passengers who were stranded were spotted at the Gran Canaria airport.
In a tweet, the Ministry of Transport stated that the weather shall show improvement from 2300 GMT.
“Calimas” or these sandstorms form as strong winds whip up dense sand clouds from Sahara and carry then to the Canaries traversing the 60-mile gap.
This storm coincides with British school holidays and has put a damper on the moods of thousands of holidaymakers.
(Photos syndicated via Reuters)
This story has been edited by BH staff and is published from a syndicated field.
