Saharan dust has swept across Europe and has started to hit the UK, with many Britons reporting orange-tinged skies and "blood rain".
Brits have reported their shock at the dramatic scenes of dust-covered cars, jackets and gardens as "blood rain" falls across the UK.
Rebecca Bushby, from Harefield Middlesex, shared images of her garden chairs with The Mirror showing where dusty rainwater had accumulated.
She said her garden was "covered" in the dusty rainwater.
The 27-year-old, who works in marketing, said: "To be honest, I thought I was going crazy at first and was trying to work out how everything was so dirty, then I realised it looked like everything was covered in sand."
Meanwhile, extraordinary images emerged of swirls of dust making their way across the Atlantic as Storm Celia sweeps across the globe.
Images provided by NASA show enormous clouds of dust covering large areas of the Earth's surface.
Skies across the UK have turned an eerie bloody orange as the storm blows Saharan sand across Europe.
Some residents in East Sussex have been seen wiping layers of thick dust off their cars.
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Rich Harvey, 36, said his new Trespass jacket had been "ruined" with rust marks after a walk through town in the dusty drizzle.
He said: "We are not suffering the red sky in Maidenhead - just heavy drizzle.
"The puddles look muddy, and white cars look a bit rusty.
"I simply walked to Sainsbury's to get a sausage roll and a can of pop for lunch and now I look like a rusty snowman.
"I Prefer a Greggs sausage roll, but was too wet to walk all that way."
Lola Panic, a student from Deptford, southeast London, told The Mirror her garden chairs had been covered in dust as a result of the bizarre weather phenomenon.
"Originally we felt a bit disgusted because of how dirty the rain seemed," said the 26-year-old.
"Then we felt slightly scared and confused, didn’t want to leave the house.
"In fact, none of us has left the house yet."
Donna Deeming, 46, from Basildon, Essex, was "only popping out to grab some milk" when she noticed her car was covered in dusty rainwater.
"I sat in the car and thought 'what on earth has happened?'" the finance administrator said.
"It’s only very drizzly here.
"There have been no downpours as yet, so I wasn’t sure if someone had thrown something on the car or if it was from some building work locally."
She added: "With what’s going on in the world I did think could this be something more than just rain or dust in the air.
"The sky is very eerie and so still. It seems very apocalyptic!
"When I got to the shops I saw many cars parked with these red splotches on! So odd.
"I think I’ll just leave for some heavy rain to wash off car! Don’t want to scratch my car."
