Storm brings travel chaos

Dozens of flights and ferries were cancelled across Scotland yesterday as Storm Ophelia hit the UK.

Nearly 50 flights from Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen airports were cancelled as of yesterday evening, as the storm barrelled in over the Irish Sea.

The Met Office issued an amber “be prepared” warning covering Dumfries and Galloway, Lothian and Borders, and Strathclyde as the tail end of the former hurricane arrived. Ireland has been hit particularly hard by the storm, with three deaths reported.

Skywatchers across Scotland yesterday watched as the sun appeared to turn red and the skies turned an ominous shade of yellow as Storm Ophelia neared.

The unusual occurrence was seen as far afield as Edinburgh, Argyll and Bute, Dumfries and Galloway, South Lanarkshire, and the Western Isles, with a number of people sharing photographs on social media.

Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge said the phenomenon was caused by tropical air dragging in dust from the Sahara, along with debris from forest fires in Portu- gal and Spain. He explained: “It’s all connected with Ophelia, on the eastern side of the low pressure system air is coming up in the southern direction. Air is being pulled from southern Europe and Africa and that air contains a lot of dust.”

The sun’s unusual appearance was caused by the dust particles scattering the light, giving it a strange red hue.

As the dust particles covered the sun, some street lighting automatically switched on, and people called the Met Office.

Mr Madge added: “It’s certainly spectacular and quite a talking point, we’ve had a lot of calls about it.”