Given the proximity of Hurricane Ophelia, it’s no great surprise to learn that the storm is responsible for the eerie red sun and skies seen across parts of the Britain on Monday morning.
According to Simon King, weather presenter for the BBC, Ophelia – which has since been downgraded to an ex-hurricane before it made landfall in Ireland – has dragged tropical air towards the UK, much of it carrying sand and dust from the Sahara desert.
Along with this, debris from the forest fires which have raged in the Iberian peninsula in recent days have also played a part.
I DONT LIKE IT. @bbcpointswest #Ophelia pic.twitter.com/V9ZW4bHdT4
— Caroline Ferris (@caz_marie) October 16, 2017
As the BBC explain – and this is where it gets a bit sciencey – the dust particles in the air cause blue light to scatter, leaving longer-wavelength red light to shine through. Yeah, we’ve no idea either.
“Ophelia originated in the Azores (Portuguese islands in the Atlantic) where it was a hurricane and as it tracked its way northwards it dragged in tropical air from the Sahara.
“The dust gets picked up into the air and goes high up into the atmosphere, and that dust has been dragged high up in the atmosphere above the UK,” King explained.
