Desert dust and sand from the Sahara is due to sweep across the West Country, including the Burnham-On-Sea area, today (Wednesday) due to a continental air flow which has travelled all the way from Africa.
Government health bosses are warning people in the region to be prepared for ‘very high’ levels of pollution over the next few days.
Andrew Sibley, specialist forecaster for the Met office, said: “Conditions are going to get worse again as we go through Wednesday and the rest of the week.”
He said that a south-easterly wind would bring with it yet more pollution from Europe, and further compound the situation across the UK.
Mr Sibley said that dust and sand particles from the Saharan desert could easily get swept up by high winds and carried thousands of miles across the globe.
“The dust gets caught by rain particles and that’s how it ends up being visible on the ground,” he said.
It comes after a number of reports from people in the Burnham-On-Sea area that their cars have been covered in a light coating of red dust.
High pollution warnings are expected to be in place across the region on Wednesday and Thursday, but should start to fall by Friday.
Pictured: BBC forecasters predicting the that very high (purple) air pollution is expected across our region on Wednesday
