Hot air from Sahara blamed for storms

Hot Sarahan air was today blamed for the violent storms that brought havoc to the West Midlands and Staffordshire.

Evidence of that was the layer of dust that covered cars and buildings once the storm had passed – all of it remnants of sand from the heart of the African desert.

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.

Hot dry air from the south yesterday met wet unstable air coming in from the Atlantic to the west. As they met, they created a mass of very unstable air that then caused the thunder storms.

Paull 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."

The storms that hit our region yesterday were relatively small but very intense. After passing over the West Midlands, they affec-ted the East Midlands and travelled north .

Widespread disruption was continuing today on major transport routes, with train services between Scotland and England axed in the wake of yesterday's freak deluges that saw rail lines blocked by flood water, landslips and fallen trees. East Coast Trains said it had cancelled all services between Newcastle and Edinburgh today. The West Coast line was also badly hit by the storms.

The North Tyneside area was also left reeling by the intense downpours and flooding that forced the closure of roads, the Metro network, The Tyne Tunnel and Newcastle's MetroCentre. One dramatic photograph captured the moment the Tyne Bridge was hit as commuter traffic crossed over. Power cuts were rife in the area with 15,000 homes still facing blackouts last night.