(ETH) – The Canary Islands have been engulfed in a massive sandstorm that is so huge that it is actually visible from space! The storm has reportedly caused flight diversions and blacked out the sun over popular tourist hotspots as Fuerteventura and Lanzarote have virtually been shut down,  According to reports, the sky turned orange across the islands, prompting many tourists to describe the scene as “apocalyptic”.

Spain’s national weather agency AEMET even issued a warning about the sandstorm and one British tourist tweeted that they were “slightly alarmed by the apocalyptic looking sky”.  These types of sandstorms are known as a Calima – which is when strong winds and rising air lifts up Saharan dust and carries it across the Atlantic. Weather experts claim this sandstorm was the “worst Calima that the Canary Islands has seen for many years“.