LThe Copernicus Service for Atmospheric Monitoring (CAMS) has announced that its air quality forecasting system shows a large proportion of moving Saharan dust in the north, he said in a statement on Friday. It is expected to hit parts of Europe over the weekend and early next week.

The forecasts show a thicker plume with higher aerosol optical depth (AOD) as well as higher surface concentrations of larger aerial particles (PM10), which would likely cause a significant drop in air quality in the affected areas.

In the statement, CAMS Scientific Director Mark Parrington said, “It is not certain to what extent this plum will be visible to the naked eye.” “Desert dust plums, dust deposits can cause red skies, limited visibility or spots on cars and windows, but these effects are difficult to predict quantitatively 4 or 5 days in advance.”

“What we can infer is that the plumb will probably extend from southern Europe to Scandinavia and significantly affect air quality in Spain, France and possibly the UK and Benelux countries. High dust concentrations can affect health and the respiratory system, ”he continues.

Copernicus is the European Earth Monitoring Program.