The Spanish Canary Islands, off the coast of North Africa, were hit by a Saharan sandstorm over the weekend. Gran Canaria Airport cancelled all flights yesterday. At least 19 flights to the island were diverted last night according to Express.co.uk.
‘We expect to operate our full flying programme today, however due to the ongoing weather we strongly advise customers booked to travel to or from the Canary Islands in the coming days to check the status of their flights … before travelling to the airport,’ a spokesperson for easyJet, one of the affected airlines, told the online publication.
Spain’s national weather service forecast winds of up to 120km/h in the Canaries today according to BBC.
A number of people have posted videos and pictures of the storm on social media and the regional government has issued an alert, advising people to stay indoors and avoid travel.
🇮🇨 Spain’s airport authority @aena shut down all airports on the Canary Islands as it was hit by a sandstorm from the Sahara #Canarias #AlertaCalima #AlertaViento pic.twitter.com/voTDSMEaxg VIA @QuickTake
— Traffic Updates & Crucial Information (@trafficbutter) February 24, 2020
Many travelers are still stuck in the Canary Islands Monday following a massive sandstorm that blew in from the Sahara Desert over the weekend. pic.twitter.com/rzNLNv6d0r
— Haq Ghazhحق غږ (@haqghazh1) February 24, 2020
Massive Saharan sandstorm grounds flights in Canary Islands https://t.co/sExxXgBhrZ pic.twitter.com/Z9O4Nako2T
— Márcio M. Silva (@marciojmsilva) February 24, 2020
Flights grounded by ‘apocalyptic’ sandstorm over Canary Islands https://t.co/D6EWBfRpTp pic.twitter.com/mwBIORE34H
— Mr David Jones …By The Way ☕☕ (@_MrDavidJones) February 23, 2020
A #Saharan #Sandstorm has affected the Canary Islands, It was reported that last night AENA suspended all #Flights in & out of #GranCanaria & all flights leaving #Tenerife.
Flights are operational today, but some flights may be subject to delay and cancellation #TravelAware pic.twitter.com/W32d6XPija— Travel B Corporate (@TBCorporate) February 24, 2020
Image: Twitter/Speedbird
