Heavy desert sand haze due to an upper-level low which penetrated deep into the sahara desert hence bringing lots of air-borne dust into the Maltese Islands giving the mid-level clouds a very deep yellowish hue. Such weather in January is not common over Malta as it is more associated with Spring and to a lesser extent in Autumn when transient surface low pressure systems form over the Sahara desert due to strong radiation heating and which then travel northwards.