‘Blood rain’ could turn UK skies red this week as thunderstorms strike

A dust cloud from the desert could see ‘blood rain’ fall across the country as it mixes with incoming thunderstorms, forecasters have said.

Wednesday night brought heavy rainfall to most regions with a yellow warning for thunderstorms being issued by the Met Office.

The showers, lightning and strong winds could continue into the week as residual clouds and rain clearing past the southeast of England.

Wind and rain are expected across the northwest, edging towards Northern Ireland on Thursday evening, with some patches of rain in southern England.

It comes after Britons basked in the country’s hottest day of the year on Tuesday, after temperatures in the southeast peaked at 27.5C (81.5F).

Met Office meteorologist Richard Miles said: “There are some dust concentrations in the atmosphere above the UK at present which might well be washed out in the rain [on Wednesday night], but it’s likely to be relatively small amounts on the whole.”

“There’s a warning out for thunderstorms for the southeastern third of England tonight, and a squally cold front will bring wind and sometimes heavy rain to Northern Ireland and northwest Scotland this evening.

Red rain - known colloquially as blood rain could fall in part of the country as high concentrations of dust lifted from the Sahara Desert mixes with water droplets.

Proper blood rain, which actually appears red in colour, is relatively rare in the UK with the rainfall often being more orange or brown in colour.

Cars and windows may be covered in a thin layer of dust after the water has evaporated.

The rest of the week will see a band of rain moving across Northern Ireland and west Scotland before turning showery over the rest of the UK on Friday.

Saturday is seemingly mild with sunny spells to start, but rain spreading into northwestern areas, with showers expected in the southeast on Sunday.