If you own a car you might have noticed a light film of dust on it in recent days.
After pausing to carefully etch “I wish my wife was as dirty as this” on everyone else’s vehicle, perhaps you asked yourself where all this dust came from?
Well, a Met Office spokesman tells HuffPost UK it’s a phenomenon known as “Sahara rain” - a deposit of dust and sand all the way from the deserts of North Africa.
Some cars across Britain were left coated in a thin film of dust
He said: "This has then risen to a height where the dust is transported quite quickly over Europe and the UK by high level winds. Rain then washes the dust out of the atmosphere, bringing it down in the raindrops. We then see the dust when the rain dries out – and it’s particularly noticeable on shiny surfaces, like cars.
"There is a chance we could see another similar event towards the end of this week, as strong winds are expected again in the Sahara region and the atmospheric circulation could bring some of that dust over Europe. However, there are lots of factors that could change this picture, so it’s too early to say for sure."
Britain is currently basking in balmy temperatures, with the first day of British Summer Time being heralded by the warmest temperatures of the year so far.
Temperatures in parts of the country exceeded 20 Celsius (68F) on Sunday.
St James's Park in London and Santon Downham in Norfolk were the hottest parts of Britain, reaching 20.9C (69.6F), according to forecasters MeteoGroup.
But the high temperatures are also likely to bring storms to western and central parts tonight, while fog and cloud will persist in areas around the north sea coast.
The weather front is being driven by hot air currently over the Low Countries.
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