Greece is bracing for a suffocating wave of African dust and unseasonably high temperatures this week, with forecasters warning of significantly degraded air quality and widespread mud showers across the country.
Meteorologist Giannis Kallianos announced that atmospheric currents sweeping in from North Africa will drive temperatures well beyond 21 to 22 degrees Celsius (70 to 72 degrees Fahrenheit) in most regions.
Mr. Kallianos noted that these warm air masses will create an unusually hot, spring-like environment that is highly abnormal for the current season.
However, the defining weather event of the week will be a dense plume of Saharan dust. Starting Tuesday, the airborne particulate matter will become intensely noticeable, sharply reducing visibility and heavily burdening the atmosphere nationwide.
When combined with incoming weather fronts, the concentrated dust will trigger localized "mud showers"—rain mixed with fine sand—across the Ionian islands and the Greek mainland.
The adverse weather conditions are expected to steadily track eastward as the week progresses.
By Thursday, the muddy precipitation is forecast to sweep south into the island of Crete, before moving across the central, eastern, and southern Aegean Sea by Friday, leaving a pervasive layer of grime over much of the maritime territory.