On Wednesday morning in Athens, a centuries-old sight seemingly vanished. The Acropolis couldn't be seen due to dust from the Sahara desert that had tinted the sky orange on Tuesday, giving it a "Martian-like filter," as the AP puts it. Officials tell the BBC it's one of the most extreme cases of Saharan dust the country has experienced since 2018. The Sahara releases as many as 220 tons of mineral dust annually, some of which is blown across the Mediterranean Sea; Greece experienced such a cloud earlier this month, too.
The BBC reports it has made things uncomfortable in southern Greece, which is experiencing both the dust and high temperatures. The daily high in parts of Crete hit 86 degrees, while temps in the north hovered around 50. Robust southerly winds are also fueling unusually early wildfires in the country's south, with 25 recorded in the country in a 24-hour period. Wildfires hit Greece each summer, and the AP reports that "persistent drought combined with high spring temperatures has raised fears of a particularly challenging period for firefighters in the coming months." The dust, however, is expected to dissipate by day's end. (Saharan dust clouds can be a problem in the US as well.)