Customers are being warned by two major supermarkets to give their groceries an extra wash before eating them.

Both Tesco and Aldi are asking shoppers to take extra care when preparing fresh fruit and vegetables in the event that any dust from last month's Saharan dust cloud has settled on the food.

Two weeks ago the skies across Kent were turned a hazy orange colour after a sandstorm in the Sahara Desert was picked up and carried across Europe and towards England.

Alongside giving skies an odd colour the dust also landed on cars and homes across the county leaving them with a gritty orange residue.

But the dust cloud had an even greater impact on some European countries, particularly Spain and Portugal, where the air quality was significantly affected, people were warned to wear face masks and the skies glowed orange and yellow for days.

A fortnight on from the event, which can happen a few times each year, supermarkets are warning that the dust cloud may have also left its mark on some fresh food - particularly fruit and vegetables that has been grown in Spain.

Aldi has reportedly put signs across some of its aisles asking its customers to take extra care and give their fresh food an additional wash.

While Tesco has also posted some warnings in stores in its fresh fruit and veg aisles and has put a notice across the top of its website and online grocery shopping pages asking shoppers to give fruit and vegetables an extra wash because of a risk that they may be covered in some of the orange and red dust.

The online warning reads: "Due to the recent winds from the Sahara Desert a small amount of dust has settled on our Spanish crops.

"Please ensure you wash your fruit and veg products before enjoying. Thank you for supporting our growers and preventing food waste by continuing to buy these products."