When a low pressure system above the Mediterranean moves towards the East a Southerly wind comes from Africa. This hot, dry and dusty wind comes from the Sahara desert, where hot air rises and flows North. When the wind blows over the Mediterranean it picks up moisture. When it comes to Southern Europe it causes headaches and insomnia to the people it blows upon because of the high temperature and the humidity of the wind. During a sirocco nights are warmer than 30°Celsius (86°F). During the day the temperature rises to 40-45°C (about 110F).
Sirocco is the Arab word for Easterly, because of the to the East moving low pressure system. The Sirocco is most common during the spring, but it can occur all year. The dust can be spread out to Northern Europe.

The sirocco has a lot of names for each area:
Chergui: Algeria
Chili: Tunesia
Ghibli: Libya
Chamsin: Egypt
Sharkiye: Jordan
Sharav: Israel, sharav is Hebrew for burning heat or heatwave
Leveche: Spain, also called Leveccio or Solano
Levanto: Canary Islands, where the wind is SouthEast