The Peterborough Evening Telegraph
READERS SUN PICTURE SPECIAL
Strange phenomenon caused as the remnants of Hurricane Ophelia hits Britain
The remnants of a hurricane which started thousands of miles away turned the Peterborough sky red. The bizarre phenomenon occurred on Monday afternoon, with the sun and sky turning a strange red-orange colour.
People in Peterborough also noticed a strange burning smell in the city.
Residents from across the city grabbed their cameras to photograph the event, which was caused by ex-hurricane Ophelia.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “This interesting phenomenon was a result of the movement of ex-Ophelia, the same southerly winds that have brought us the warmth over the weekend also drew up dust from the Sahara and smoke particles from Iberian wildfires to our latitudes.
“The red or yellow appearance occurs as the dust scatters the blue light from the sun which lets more red light through, much as at sunrise or sunset.”
Asthma sufferers were warned to stay indoors, as the dust could have had an impact on their condition.
Residents also reported seeing cars caked in a red dust on Monday evening.
Hurricane Ophelia developed to the southwest of the Azores and had reached Category 3 status over the weekend. As it moved northeast across the North Atlantic, Ophelia lost energy as it passed over cooler waters.
While the east of the UK escaped the worst of the strong winds, there was devastation caused in Ireland and the north and west of the country, with three people killed, and thousands left without power as winds reached 97mph.