People in Bolton have woken up to find Saharan dust sprinkled over their cars.

The Met Office predicted on Monday that dust from Sahara Desert in Africa would be travelling through the skies over England this week.

And after rainfall last night, Wednesday, dust coated cars in a thin layer as people in Farnworth wondered why.

One resident woke up to find dust all over his van and car.

He said: “I did not know what it was, but I woke up and saw dust all over my car.

“I have never seen this before but all the cars on my street were covered in muck.

“It’s quite strange to learn why, but I just thought, ‘what is this?’ and then I saw everybody talking about it on Facebook.”

The Bolton News: Sahara dust

“It’s just mother nature I suppose, but I did get a little worried at first.”

The Met Office confirmed the Saharan dust was extending throughout the UK and people would see beautiful sunsets as a result.

Saharan dust is a mixture of sand and dust from the Sahara desert which covers most of North Africa.

The wind can blow the dust up to the sky, reaching high altitudes and then transported around the world.

The dust in the sky can reach the bottom when it rains.

A spokesman for The Met Office said: “Saharan dust, as indicated by the brighter pinks in the satellite imagery below, is likely to extend across parts of the UK this week.

“Combined with mostly clear skies; there could be some picturesque sunsets.”

The resident joked he would need to wait a day to go and wash his cars.

He added: “I bet all the car washes in Bolton will be very busy today, so I will have to get mine washed tomorrow.”

Another Farnworth resident said she thought it was "special" to learn where the dust on her car had come from.

She said: “I didn't know what it was at first. I got in my car this morning and had to clear my windscreen and this brown water came away.

“I just thought it was something to do with the change in weather but then when I got to work, I noticed my grey car had brown dust all over it despite it being wet due to the rain.

"I've now found out it was Sahara Dust and it feels quite special that it has come all the way to Bolton."

The weather has been hitting highs of 29 across Bolton this week, with the hot weather set to continue to the weekend, with highs of 27 degrees on Friday, 25 degrees on Saturday and 24 on Sunday.