File:Saharan Dust over the Iberian Peninsula (MODIS 2024-03-25).jpg

English: A massive plume of dust blanketed the Iberian Peninsula on March 22, 2024, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image. Tan dust was entrained high in the atmosphere, floating above a bank of clouds in the western section of the image. In the east, another layer of dust appeared to move underneath the cloud layer and was thick enough that it obscured parts of Portugal and Spain from view.

This dust originated in the Sahara Desert of western Africa when winds driven by an offshore low pressure system swept over the region. Unsettled weather has been moving dust northward over the Iberian Peninsula since March 17.

According to local media, the Algarve and Alentejo regions of Portugal were the most heavily impacted areas on March 22. The Directorate-General for Health (DGS) of that country was quoted as saying that the dust particles, “have effects on human health, especially on the most sensitive population, children and the elderly, whose health care must be monitored" and emphasized that children, the elderly, and patients with respiratory problems should, whenever possible, remain inside buildings, preferably with windows closed.