The day the sun turned
HUNDREDS of people in Southport and West Lancashire took to social media on Monday to post images of the red sun.
The unusual sight left the sun and sky looking discoloured.
This came as Southport and West Lancashire experienced the remnants of the former Hurricane Ophelia, with very strong winds coming almost directly from the south.
The Met Office put a weather warning in place from midday, until 11.55pm on Monday.
Dr Dave Reynolds, from The Weather Channel, said that four things came together to cause the orange or yellow glow in the sky.
He said: “Winds were strong over Iberia on Sunday, which has resulted in dust from there being raised and then blown to the UK on a strong south to south-westerly flow.
“Some of the dust may be particulates from the fires [in Portugal], although I think regular fine-grained dust would account for the majority.
“This is a result of Ophelia to the west of Portugal (on Sunday) and high pressure over the western Mediterranean.
“Furthermore, and importantly, the cold front of Ophelia moved across southern Britain on Monday morning and was very weak – this meant there was not much rain to wash the dust out.
“The winds were southerly, despite the cold front coming through.
“Usually, winds would veer and the fresher Atlantic air would come in behind a cold front.”