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Saharan Dust Cloaks Barcelona as 'Claudia' Drives Cooler Air and Storm Alerts

Forecasters expect a peak on Friday with improvement on Saturday.

Overview

  • A dense calima from the Sahara reduced visibility and dimmed skies across Barcelona and the Mediterranean coast on Friday.
  • Meteocat issued orange alerts for Vall d’Aran, Pallars Sobirà, Alta Ribagorça, Cerdanya, Ripollès and Berguedà, with yellow alerts for Pallars Jussà, Alt Urgell and Solsonès.
  • A cold front is lowering temperatures to around 20°C, bringing widespread light to moderate showers and isolated afternoon thunderstorms in Girona and Barcelona areas.
  • Air quality has deteriorated on the coast, and experts warn vulnerable people face higher respiratory risk during dust peaks, especially where PM concentrations surpass the 50 µg/m³ guideline for PM10.
  • The warm Saharan layer over a cooler Mediterranean is producing morning fog banks, while elsewhere the same storm continues to deliver heavy rain and wind warnings in Galicia through Saturday.