A huge swarm of flying ants has been spotted on a weather radar along the south coast.
The Met Office picked up the swarm on Friday and warned people to 'expect more' in the coming days. People took to social media to report sightings, claiming it was "flying ant day".
As reported by the Mirror, the weather company explained it's not unusual for them to spot the winged insects making their way about and they usually are spotted at this time of the year over the space of a week. They appear on the radar similar to how rainfall looks, but the Met Office is able to check their weather gauges and clarify whether or not it is rain or flying ants.
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Met Office forecaster Simon Partridge explained: "The creatures are less likely to fly in the rain and it is harder for the forecaster to tell if it is ants or the rainfall during wet weather. Every year around this time we do pick them up on the rain radar. At the moment it’s harder to tell because we’ve got so many showers and the ants look like showers.
“When we do get the rain, they don’t fly as much. It’s generally the southern parts of the UK where we tend to notice it most.
“We haven’t seen any swarms today but it doesn’t mean they’re not there as there are so many showers around. They were picked up on the radar on Friday. It was much drier and it was easier to spot them. They can be seen several miles across – they look like very heavy showers. On Friday it was about a mile."
The flying ants are expected to be around for 'over a week' according to Simon Partridge. The Flying Ant Day phenomenon refers to a specific time in the summer months when flying ants finally take the skies in search of a mate.
According to the Royal Society of Biology, there is not always one flying ant day, with around 96% of days between June and September bringing sightings of the flying ants in their swarms.
The Flying Ant Day phenomenon refers to a specific time in the summer months when flying ants finally take the skies in search of a mate. Flying Ant Day usually comes at the start or middle of July, but this year could be very different.
When weather conditions are favourable for flying ants, they might continuously take to the skies for weeks on end.
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