Saharan Storm Leaves Dust On Wrexham Cars

A storm in the Sahara 2,000 miles away from the UK has been revealed as the cause for sandy deposits left on cars and surfaces in the Wrexham area.

The dust was left by today’s stormy showers which hit Wrexham and large parts of the UK.

The Saharan storm swept up a significant amount of sand and dust up into the atmosphere, before westwards over the Atlantic where it got caught up in southerly winds.

After heading over Spain it then arrived over the UK in the warm and humid air which has brought thunder storms and heavy rain.

We’ve had tweets from several Wrexhamites reporting sand on their cars including Cheryl Brett (@BrettBonnie) who said: “Worked in caia park this am after rain fell my car was covered in a fine sandy like dust anyone else have the same problem?”

Above is a picture of the large deposits left on the roof of our reporter’s car sun roof.

According to the Met Office dust often gets caught up in rain droplets in clouds, which then fall to the ground. When the water evaporates, a thin layer of dust is left on surfaces, like cars.

Hutcheon, Deputy Chief Forecaster at the Met Office, said: “We usually see this happen several times a year, particularly in summer when you get these big dust storms in the western Sahara and the southerly winds to bring that dust here.

“This event was a very well-marked example, as you can clearly see the dust as it moves from the Sahara to the UK in the satellite imagery.”

The Met Office posted up the below video of how the dust storm travelled to the UK.