Could be I suppose. Red sky at morning is reflected light from rain-bearing clouds over the horizon. A clear sky to the East wouldn't give you that.
Likewise, the sun looks redder the more atmosphere it needs to travel through, so if the air is moving particularly violently, or there's a lot of moisture in the air increasing density or even I guess if I lot of dust etc has been blown up into the upper atmosphere. Maybe the fires in Portugal, or a lot of Saharan sand?
Saharan dust is particularly striking in winter, in the mountains, when strong southerly winds occur, the ski slopes become a reddish hue (and turn into slop...)...
I only heard of the Portuguese fires about an hour ago.
More on the red skies: Saharan sand normally blows out into the Atlantic between the Canaries and Cape Verde on the prevailing sub-tropical easterlies; Ophelia - having pulled itself up from that part of the Atlantic seems to have drawn the sand with it. Here's a map of low-level dust concentration
Wilst Ophelia wreaks havoc in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales, the BBC's One o'clock news have sent a reporter to Kent to revisit sites from the storm of 1987 and Radio 4's World At One are taking a look at "Storm Phelia by taking look back at the storm of 87 which battered SE England" ... nope, they're not London/SE-centric in the slightest.
Wilst Ophelia wreaks havoc in Ireland, Northern Ireland and Wales, the BBC's One o'clock news have sent a reporter to Kent to revisit sites from the storm of 1987 and Radio 4's World At One are taking a look at "Storm Phelia by taking look back at the storm of 87 which battered SE England" ... nope, they're not London/SE-centric in the slightest.
Similarly:
Originally posted by The BBC
An "unusual" reddish sky and red-looking sun have been reported across parts of England. The phenomenon has been seen in the South West, West Midlands, North West and North East.
In Wales, apparently, such things were not regarded worthy of note, presumably because we're considered used to seeing a dragon devour the sun or whatever it is.
More seriously, it seems to have been a combination of the factors others have noted:
BBC weather presenter Simon King said it was due to the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia dragging in tropical air and dust from the Sahara.
He added that debris from forest fires in Portugal and Spain was also playing a part.
The dust has caused shorter wavelength blue light to be scattered, making it appear red.
He said: "Ophelia originated in the Azores where it was a hurricane and as it tracked its way northwards it dragged in tropical air from the Sahara."
This meant dust from the Sahara was brought with it, he said.
Much more seriously, one person has been killed by a falling tree in Waterford already.
Sad to hear about the lady killed in Waterford, hopefully there'll be no more fatalities, though the usual moronic swimmers surfers and kite surfers are trying for a nomination for the Darwin awards, the grandstand damage in Cork is going to affect the end of the league, Cork were expected to win the league against Derry tomorrow night, they are due to play relegation threatened St Patricks Athletic on Friday who were no doubt hoping to catch them in relaxed mode having spent the week celebrating.
Is this it? It’s very windy (but not constant) in inner city south Dublin and bright and sunny. This is very weird. There are still bampots walking about and driving as well.
Sound of aircraft coming into/pulling away from Dublin now. Would have thought everything from choppers up would have been grounded. Might have been a helicopter, but think it was a plane.
I take that back. Just been out to have a look. It's like Bladerunner out there.
You can actually see streams of dust in the clouds. It's well beyond weird.
It's like Bladerunner out there. It's well beyond weird.
It's certainly well beyond weird. As for the Bladerunner thing I've seen that three or four times over the past couple of hours. Am I the only one who doesn't know what that actually means?
Now a massive dirty grey massif seems to be rolling in from the wesht. It’s still sunny over my shoulder in my worryingly creaky glass eyrie. Mibees first proper rain of the day, though by all accounts it’s Galway that’s now bearing the brunt.
Thanks to Ophelia I got a day off work today. Arrived at seven at work to found a notice that due to severe weather the building is closed today.
Now it is getting very windy and rainy and 20 ago the fence in our back garden gave way. It doesn't feel like a hurricane but it is very windy now, better to stay in.
It's certainly well beyond weird. As for the Bladerunner thing I've seen that three or four times over the past couple of hours. Am I the only one who doesn't know what that actually means?
Very weird sky here as well, about 50 miles from London. I realise how ridiculous it is for me to be commenting on the sky when others on here have the worst of the weather to endure. All the best to all of you.
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