Brits trapped in hotel with 'no safety advice' after holiday turns into the 'upside down'

A woman and her family are trapped in a hotel in Crete after a life threatening storm and Saharan dust cloud are turning the skies dark orange.

Holidaymakers in the region say it's starting to look like the 'Upside Down' with poor visibility causing disruptions to flights into Heraklion.

The Calima - a hot, oppressing dust and sand-laden - has pushed dust levels to more than 1,000 micrograms per cubic metre of air.

At the same time, the Greek national weather service issued a red warning for Crete as Storm Erminio brought violent thunderstorms and torrential rain, warning flooding could pose a 'significant risk to life'.

Among the tourists caught up in the scenes is Alexandra Cann, from Nottingham, who flew into Crete with 14 relatives on 31 March.

“We are a group of 15 away to celebrate my mother in laws 60th birthday,” she told LADbible.

“In our party my sister in law is 23 weeks pregnant, my husband's aunty is recovery from a broken neck. We have come away for the first time all together — the last time my husband and his aunty were away together was 24 years ago! So it's a pretty special occasion.”

Not long into the trip, however, the weather started to take a turn for the worst.

“The weather was fairly typical until about 3:30pm local time where the wind picked up,” Alexandra said.

“Around 3:40pm there was a significant change with yellow/ brown hue and gusts of wind.”

Within an hour the skies had turned a dramatic orange.

“By 4-5pm it was bright orange and dust everywhere and huge gusts of wind. It remained this way along with torrential rain for the remainder of the evening.”

Because of how quickly the storm arrived, Alexandra said tourists were given very little warning.

“There was no warning from the travel agent at all,” she said.

“There was a sign on the hotel bar that suggested they expected a thunderstorm and rain. But other than that we have had no communication or safety advice. Which seems pretty poor.”

She said that the strong winds caused chaos around the resort as one tourist had to pull over while driving back to the hotel because the blowing sand made it impossible to see.

“During the storm deck chairs were flying everywhere and most are at the bottom of the pool. It was pretty surreal,” she said.

“Our entire hotel is currently under a thin layer of sand. Pools are closed and staff have been working since 7:30 am to filter the pools and clean walkways.”

For now thought, most guests are staying put.

“Excursions are not operating, pools closed, shops and bars in Gouves closed,” Alexandra said.

“We are pretty stranded with nothing much to do.”

The group are not due to fly home until Tuesday and are hoping the weather settles before then.