THE DAY THE SKY TURNED ORANGE
AREAS were plunged into darkness, there was an orange glow in parts of the sky and a plane had to make an emergency landing as the tail of Hurricane Ophelia approached South Wales yesterday.
People across the country took to social media to share eerie photos of the weather, with many also commenting on the strange orange and yellow hue in other parts of the sky.
In some areas, including Bridgend, the skies were so dark and gloomy that street lights automatically came on during the day and cars were forced to use their headlights.
Dr David Reynolds, senior meteorologist from The Weather Channel, said up to four conditions had come together to create the phenomenon.
He explained that there were strong winds over Iberia on Sunday, so dust from there has being raised and blown to the UK. There have also been serious fires in Portugal.
Dr Reynolds said: “Some of the dust may be particulates from the fires, although I think regular fine-grained dust would account for the majority.”
The cold front of Ophelia moved across southern Britain yesterday and was very weak - this meant there was not much rain to wash the dust out.
This dust led to issues with aircraft with a flight from Cardiff making an emergency landing at Dublin Airport on Monday morning after reports of smoke in the cockpit.
One passenger said: “We were up in the air for a suspiciously long time. Then they told us not to be alarmed by the flashing blue lights and emergency crew escort as we landed.
“The captain told us that the crew had smelled something funny on board. They were all very calm and collected. We were given priority landing and were accompanied by fire engines and police vehicles on the runway as a precaution.
“Our luggage was delayed at the airport while they dealt with the plane.”
Flybe also cancelled its BE283 flight from Cardiff to Belfast City.
A Flybe spokeswoman said it was due to “unusual meteorological phenomenons”. Three people were killed as the hurricane-force winds hit Ireland and the UK.
A man died in Ravensdale, Dundalk, Ireland, after a tree struck the car he was in at around 2.45pm, officers said.
Earlier, a man in his 30s was killed in a chainsaw accident as he tried to remove a fallen tree in Cahir, Co Tipperary, and a woman in her mid 50s died when her car was hit by a tree near the village of Aglish in Waterford.