RESIDENTS on the Costa del Sol are being warned to keep their car windows shut and hold off on cleaning their terraces as ‘blood rain’ is set to batter the region.

A massive plume of Saharan dust is currently sweeping across the country, which is expected to collide with an incoming DANA (isolated high-altitude depression) on Friday evening.

The combination of suspended sand and heavy rain will result in intense ‘mud showers’ across Malaga and the surrounding coastal towns.

Weather experts at Meteo365 confirmed that while the Costa del Sol will bear the brunt of the mud on Friday, the dust cloud will move east towards the Costa Blanca and The Balearics over the weekend.

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The ‘blood rain’ marks the end of a record-breaking start to April, which saw temperatures soar to 32.8C in northern Spain earlier this week.

However, a polar air mass is set to follow the dust, causing temperatures to plummet by as much as 20C in some areas.

“The episode of high temperatures has its hours numbered,” said weather expert Duncan Wingen of forecasters Meteored.

By Saturday, the ‘summer-like’ heat will be a distant memory as a cold front moves in from the Atlantic.

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In Andalucia and the Costa Blanca, Friday’s highs of 30C will drop to between 20C and 23C on Saturday.

By Sunday, the mercury will struggle to top 20C on the coast, while interior regions like Granada and Jaen could see temperatures feel more like January than April.

State weather agency Aemet has warned that the instability will be particularly severe in The Balearics on Sunday.

The islands are braced for heavy rain and a fierce Tramontana wind, with gusts expected to exceed 70kph and cause dangerous conditions at sea.

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Snow is also forecast for the Baetic mountain ranges and parts of the north, with the snow line dropping to 700m in some areas.

The unsettled weather is expected to remain until Monday, when a high-pressure system from the Atlantic will finally push the cold front away, leading to a gradual rise in temperatures.

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