Dust from the Sahara Desert is causing hazy skies in southern and central England after being swept north by high winds.

The eerie spectacles captured in a number of images posted online were triggered by a series of sandstorms in North Africa.

The Met Office said the Saharan dust was a mixture of sand and dust from the desert, which can reach Europe depending on conditions.

Hazy skies could be seen in Penzance, Dorset, London and Cambridge on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.

The Met Office said in a post on Twitter: “If you live in the south of the UK you may be wondering why the sky has a strange hue this morning.

“This is Saharan Dust which can even be seen of the latest visible satellite picture.”

In February, researchers said that a plume of dust from the Sahara had caused a sharp rise in air pollution in parts of Europe.

If you live in the south of the UK you maybe wondering why the sky has a strange hue this morning

This is #SaharanDust which can even be seen of the latest visible satellite picture pic.twitter.com/lHHtpgCRNa

The European Commission’s Copernicus satellite said at the time that particles were smaller than 10 micrometres and risked causing breathing difficulties, asthma attacks and heart problems if inhaled.

In June 2020, NASA observed a large Sahara dust plume over the Atlantic, which showed it had spread over 2,000 miles (3,200km).

The particles mix with rain and can leave dust deposits on cars and windows, during heavy rainfall.

In April 2019, motorists in southern regions spotted a coating of red dust on their cars.

Related posts:

Greece invites Britons to start booking holidays as it targets 40 islands for vaccinations Charles hails ‘courage’ of Commonwealth during pandemic as hype builds over Sussexes’ Oprah interview People aged 56 to 59 invited to book in for a COVID jab from next week PM faces Brexit row at breakfast with EU leaders over sausage trade dispute Honours list shows that the worst of times brought out the best in so many Nightclub owner shuns government’s COVID passport ahead of reopening PM and Patel accused of ‘stoking’ actions of ‘vocal minority’ after racist abuse of England players Ashes series in Australia set to go ahead after England cricket officials give conditional approval ‘I need to cut myself some slack’: Emma Raducanu loses first match since US Open Pro-cyclist was second rider to be attacked and robbed in London park in less than 24 hours, it emerges ‘Leave by any means possible’: Britons in Ukraine warned not to expect military evacuation London mayor will oppose hiring Met chief if they don’t have ‘robust plan’ to tackle cultural issues