YEREVAN, NOVEMBER 22, ARMENPRESS. A dust storm measuring 500 kilometers (310 miles) in length is sweeping across Australia's southeast, blanketing towns in a red haze and raising health concerns, CNN reported.

Satellite images show the wall of dust roughly the same distance from London to Paris as it moves across New South Wales towards the coast.

Authorities issued a public health alert for Sydney on Thursday, rating the air particle quality as very poor and warning children, the elderly and those with respiratory problems to stay inside.

The current dust storm was caused by strong winds ahead of a low pressure system that picked up masses of loose dust particles, the result of prolonged drought in the state, according to Australia's Bureau of Meteorology.