The dust is being carried north by warm air masses from Spain and the Sahara Desert.
Earlier this week, dust particles were observed by the European Union’s Copernicus Sentinel 3 satellite, blown north by winds from the Sahara Desert to the Canary Islands.
A dust storm is expected to hit across Ireland over the weekend, with the dust expected to turn to rain on Sunday.
Amateur meteorologist Alan O’Reilly, who manages Carlow Weather’s social media feed, said Saharan dust is often found higher up in the atmosphere.
“When it rains, dust is raised to the surface. Saharan dust often falls, especially in the summer, but if the weather is calm and dry, dust does not actually appear on the surface. .”
He told News Talk Radio that Sunday’s “unusually mild” temperatures, which could reach 14 degrees Celsius in some areas, would be caused by a warm air mass.
Saturday night will be mostly cloudy and calm, with scattered light rain and showers expected, Met Eireann said.
The forecast calls for mostly cloudy and dry weather on Sunday with scattered light rain or drizzle. Rain is expected to start in the west before noon and spread eastward to the rest of the country in the afternoon and evening.
Rain is expected to continue Sunday night in the south and east, but the northwest is expected to remain sunny.
Sunday night temperatures will return to between 1 and 5 degrees.