ARCHIVED - Canary Islands cut off by severe Saharan dust storm

People confined to their homes by winds of up to 160 km/h as the air turns yellow

The Canary Islands are one of the most popular holiday destinations in Europe during the winter due to the warm temperatures in comparison with the rest of the continent, but over the weekend as the thermometers showed up to 33 degrees in places as both tourists and residents were forced indoors due to a tremendous dust storm blowing in from the Sahara, forcing the closure of all ports and airports.

On Sunday the highest temperature in Spain was the 33.2 degrees registered at La Aldea de San Nicolás in Las Palmas, but this was far from being sunbathing weather as the air turned yellow due to the high concentration of dust particles. Winds gusted at up to 163 km/h in Izaña, on the island of Tenerife, as an extreme “calima” wind blew in from northern Africa, and the airstream fanned the flames of numerous wildfires which added further to the haze in the air and led to the cancellation of 230 incoming and outgoing flights during the morning alone.

Most of the events related to the Carnival celebrations in the islands had to be postponed or called off altogether, and with the airports out of action the air force were called in to deal with various emergencies including a woman who suffered a heart attack in Lanzarote and had to be airlifted to hospital in Gran Canaria.

During Sunday the waves in the Atlantic became progressively rougher and forced the cancellation of ferry services, and in the port of Los Cristianos (Tenerife) a Fred Olsen ferry collided with a navy vessel: fortunately, no injuries were reported.

One of the most serious wild fires made it necessary to evacuate 250 residents of Tasarte, many of them taking refuge on the beach in scenes which called to mind the recent destructive bush fires in Australia, and as hundreds of roads were closed evacuations also took place in El Hoyo and Tocodomán, also in Gran Canaria.

At the same time the 112 emergency services line dealt with over 800 incidents related to the wind, most of them in Gran Canaria and Tenerife and related to fallen trees, advertising hoardings, awnings, lamp posts and the like.

Fortunately conditions are likely to improve soon, and as of Monday morning the Aemet warnings for strong winds and high dust particle concentrations are in force only until 15.00.

Join the Murcia Weather Watch group on Facebook to keep up to date with all the latest forecasts and weather-related stories: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RegionOfMurciaWeatherWatch/.