After weeks of sunshine, much of the UK has suddenly been swallowed up by clouds, while drivers are seeing a fine layer of dust and grime plastered across their cars.

As well as forecasts for possible snow and ice hitting parts of the UK this week, people in England, particularly in the north of England, have noticed another weather related problem affecting them.

People in Lancashire as well as those over the border in Yorkshire have spotted poor air quality where they live, with high pollution levels, hazy skies full of dust and even layers of brown grime and dust settling on their cars.

According to climate experts, the reason is due to Saharan dust from Africa being carried on the wind to the UK.

Posting on Reddit community r/Lancashire, member u/GlennSWFC said this morning: “Does anyone know what’s causing the air pollution in Lancashire today?

“I opened up my weather app this morning and it showed the air quality map where the precipitation one is normally, and it showed very bad air quality in Lancashire today. I’ve checked another couple of sites that have confirmed the quality is worse than the rest of the country today.

“The good news is that it’s set to improve and is due to be green by Tuesday, but I was wondering if anyone was aware of anything that’s happened locally that might have had this impact on air quality.”

u/Motor-Command-2680 said: “Might be Saharan desert dust. I know that’s been blowing over here as my car is covered in it.”

Hour_Mine2807 said: “That’s so weird, also noticed hazy dusty air yesterday.”

Dr Hugo Ricketts, instrument scientist and research fellow at the National Centre for Atmospheric Science and University of Manchester, said in a post for the organisation earlier this month: “When the wind conditions are just right then desert dust is blown north from the Sahara.

“This typically happens in the summer months, but can happen in spring and autumn. We experience this as warmer than average air moving up through continental Europe over the UK.

“The dust starts off high above the ground (up to 5 km/3 miles!) when it leaves Africa and then it gradually falls down through the atmosphere. If some of that dust makes it all the way down to ground level, air quality can take a hit, which isn’t great for anyone with breathing issues. You’ll maybe spot a fine layer of dust on cars, windows, and anything else left outside, too.

“If the dust layer reaches the ground, this can show up as increased particulate matter (PM), but we can also measure the amount and composition using specialist scientific instruments such as aerosol particle sizers and imagers.

“If the dust layer is still high in the sky, we can measure it using a laser-based instrument, known as a lidar. It uses a laser beam pointing up into the atmosphere that reflects off any particles that might be there. Mostly lidars are used at airports for detecting clouds, but they can also be used to identify aerosol layers, such as the Saharan dust layer.”