Yellow dust fills sky over Stuttgart, Germany

Meteorologists say Germany faces rare weather extremes in the coming days, with large amounts of snow in the north and balmy temperatures in the south. In the region around Stuttgart the city was bathed in yellow light by dust from the Sahara desert on Saturday.

It's due to the low pressure area named 'Tristan', which has carried the sand from North Africa to Germany.In the north of central Germany, 15 to 40 centimeters (5.9 to 15.7 inches) of fresh snow and drifts of snow up to over a meter (3.3 ft) can be expected from Saturday evening to Monday night, according to an official warning from the German Weather Service.

The Dutch have named the low-pressure system that will bring strong winds and widespread snow as 'Storm Darcy.'By early next week the temperature difference between the north and south of the country could be as big as 20 degrees Celsius (36 Fahrenheit), meteorologists said.

Mild weather in the south could fuel snowmelt in the mountains and further increase the risk of flooding.Several rivers in Germany burst their banks this week and persistent rainfall has led to numerous mudslides.