The day Athens turned orange, Helsinki turned silver – CNN.co.jp

Athens, the Greek capital, turns orange due to sand from the Sahara Desert (23rd)/Costas Baltas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

2024.04.24 Wed posted at 13:55 JST

(CNN) On the 23rd, cities in Southern Europe, including Greece’s capital Athens, were covered in orange hues due to sand blown in from the Sahara Desert in North Africa. On the other hand, unseasonably heavy snow fell in parts of Northern Europe on this day, leaving Finland’s capital Helsinki completely covered in snow.

Greek authorities at one point warned of the health risks. According to meteorological authorities, the sand is expected to start to subside by the morning of the 24th.

Videos and photos posted online showed people looking down on a hazy yellow-orange city from a hill near Athens.

Some people walked around the city in the evening and took photos of the bright orange scenery and posted them on social media. One post quoted a meteorologist saying Athens looked like a “Colony on Mars.”

People crossing snow-covered railways as tram services have been suspended in Helsinki, Finland, on the 23rd.

Cyprus, an island nation in the eastern Mediterranean, has been similarly affected. The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on the 22nd that a low-pressure system over North Africa brought sand to Cyprus several times in the middle of this month.

NASA’s Earth observation satellite “Terra” captured an orange cloud that covered Cyprus on the 22nd. NASA said it expects the sand to continue across the Mediterranean Sea and affect Cyprus and Greece for several days.

In Greece and elsewhere, visibility has often been observed to be reduced by sand from North Africa.

In Northern Europe, southern Finland was hit with over 20 centimeters of snow, affecting public transportation in Helsinki. More than a dozen accidents occurred on the road, but no serious injuries were reported.

Snow removal work is underway on the tram lines, but the work is slow because the tools used to spray de-icers have already been put away in a warehouse.