‘Blood rain’ is heading towards Spain and will arrive just in time for the Easter holidays, weather experts have warned.
The weather phenomenon, known as ‘calima’, sees billions of tiny dust and sand particles from Africa picked up by winds and carried into Spain.
The skies typically turn orange or red, while the atmosphere becomes noticeably more humid.
When it rains, drops of water pick up the tiny particles of sand and carry them to the ground, leaving homes, cars and any other objects in their path covered in specs of orange mud.
According to meteorologists at El Tiempo, the ‘calima’ will affect the majority of the Spanish mainland and the Balearic Islands throughout this coming weekend.
The conditions are being brought in by Storm Olivier, which will make landfall in Spain from Wednesday.
On that day, experts predict the skies will already be turning orange above Andalucia.
The report by El Tiempo adds: ‘On Thursday, the haze will spread northward, and on Friday, we could see the haze across much of the Iberian Peninsula and the Balearic Islands.
‘In the far north, the calima will be less significant, and this episode is not expected to affect the Canary Islands.’
It added: ‘On Thursday, with the increase in rainfall, we could already expect ‘mud rain’ in Andalucia, Extremadura, Castilla-La Mancha, and even Madrid and southern Castilla y León.
‘At least until Friday, the calima will continue over most of the peninsula and the Balearic Islands, so all precipitation, except in the Canary Islands, could be ‘mud rain’.’