Dusty levels are expected to remain high throughout the week but isolated showers and possibly storms could return by the weekend.

Increased dust levels have blighted an otherwise pleasant early spring in the last few days, with plenty of sunshine and unusually high temperatures.

Dust levels are expected to stay the same until Friday, Meteorological Services official Iasonas Christodoulou had previously told The Cyprus Weekly, but the dust will soon settle. Isolated showers and/or a thunderstorm on Sunday afternoon are expected to clear away the last of it.

On Thursday morning, the hourly concentration of respirable particles in the ambient air with diameter less than 10 micrometres (PM10) exceeded the limit value of 50 mg/m3 (micrograms per cubic meter) in all major towns. Specifically, dust levels were 63 mg/m3 in Nicosia, 146 mg/m3 in Limassol and 97 mg/m3 in Larnaca.

The Ministry of Labour has issued a warning to employers to take appropriate measures after assessing the risks that their employees are facing while working in open spaces.

Authorities put special emphasis in advising members of vulnerable groups, such as young children, the elderly, and patients with health problems, to take precaution and avoid the outdoors or open spaces until the current situation goes back to normal.

As dust levels subside, temperatures will also gradually drop in the coming days.