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Red sun spotted in sky over UK as Storm Ophelia whips up dust from Sahara Red sun spotted in sky over UK as Storm Ophelia whips up dust from Sahara
(about 4 hours later)
A red sun spotted in the sky over parts of England has been caused by Storm Ophelia. The sky has turned dark and the sun a deep orange because of Storm Ophelia.
The unusual occurrence was seen in the south west during the middle of Monday morning, with a number of people sharing photos and video online of the phenomenon. All over England, the sky looked as if it was in the middle of a sandstorm. The sky was a deep brown and orange, and the sun turned red – or disappeared behind the swirls of sand in the sky.
Sharon Derrick shared a video of the sun over Bristol and said: "Bristol looks like the film The Red Planet... the weather is bizarre." If it resembled something you'd expect to see in the Sahara Desert, that's because it was. The sand and dust had been carried over from southern Europe and Africa by recent bizarre weather, and as it swirled around in the sky it turned the sky dark.
As the sun moves through the dust, the light is reflected and refracted, meaning that even the light that was falling on the ground appeared to turn the colour of dirt.
The material is swirling high up in the atmosphere, meaning that it is safe to go outside and to breathe, and that the orange effect will pass fairly quickly.
The same thing has happened with the warm weather, which meant that those places that aren't being hit by the wet, stormy weather are actually seeing something like summer temperatures.
The unusual occurrence was seen in the South West during the middle of Monday morning before spreading across the country in the afternoon.
A number of people shared photos and video online of the phenomenon. Sharon Derrick posted a video of the sun over Bristol and said: "Bristol looks like the film The Red Planet... the weather is bizarre."
Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge said the former hurricane is pulling air and dust up from southern Europe and Africa.Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge said the former hurricane is pulling air and dust up from southern Europe and Africa.
"It's all connected with Ophelia, on the eastern side of the low pressure system air is coming up in the southern direction," he said."It's all connected with Ophelia, on the eastern side of the low pressure system air is coming up in the southern direction," he said.
"Air is being pulled from southern Europe and Africa and that air contains a lot of dust."Air is being pulled from southern Europe and Africa and that air contains a lot of dust.
"So it's most likely the appearance of sunset at midday is caused by the particles scattering the light and giving the appearance of a red sun."So it's most likely the appearance of sunset at midday is caused by the particles scattering the light and giving the appearance of a red sun.
"It's certainly spectacular at the moment and quite a talking point, we've had a lot of calls about it.""It's certainly spectacular at the moment and quite a talking point, we've had a lot of calls about it."
Press Association Additional reporting by Press Association