Rare ‘blood rain’ could fall in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day as a huge Saharan dust storm spreads across Europe.
Dust from the Sahara desert could travel all the way from North Africa to Ireland after it was driven up into the air by a weather front dubbed Storm Celia by Spanish authorities.
Spanish officials have issued poor air quality ratings and advised the public in certain areas not to stay outside too long, as experts have warned it's making its way to Ireland.
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Satellite images show huge amounts of dust spreading across Europe, as people share eerie pictures of skies glowing orange in Portugal, Germany and Spain.
The dust has already made landfall in England and is forecast to travel into Ireland on Wednesday evening and into St Patrick’s Day.
The British Met Office shared a video of a recent satellite map on Twitter.
Forecasters said: “We can see the Saharan Dust that has pushed across Spain and France, into southeast England.
“Whilst this dust is mostly about 2km above ground level, some deposits may fall to the ground, especially during today's rain in southern parts of the UK.”
It could see ‘blood rain’ falling in Ireland on St Patrick’s Day, which is a term used when red-coloured rain falls from the sky.
According to the Met Office: “Blood rain is not actually a meteorological or scientific term - instead it's a colloquial phrase which can be found going a fair way back in history.
“The forces that drive our weather can be quite powerful and do some surprising things - including lifting things like sand or even small objects and transporting them large distances.
“In the case of blood rain, strong winds or storms can whip up dust and sand. As this becomes airborne it can get caught up in atmospheric circulation, where it can be carried for thousands of miles.
“Eventually the dust will either fall out of the sky due to gravity or will be caught up in rain clouds, where it mixes with the water droplets. When these fall as rain the raindrops could appear red.”
The forecasters added that proper ‘blood rain’ is a relatively rare event as extremely high concentrations of dust particles are needed in the rain.
However in 2001 in the southern Indian state of Kerala, monsoon rains periodically fell with a red colour which was dark enough to stain clothes.
There were also reports of rains of other colours during the same monsoon season - including green and yellow rain.
With some Saharan dust set to affect Ireland on Thursday and Met Eireann forecasting rain, there is a chance some areas could see ‘blood rain’.
In its latest forecast, Met Eireann has predicted a mild St Patrick’s Day with showery rain.
A post on its website reads: “St Patrick's Day will be mostly cloudy with showery rain moving eastwards across the country. Through the afternoon, it will become drier and brighter with showers becoming isolated.
“Breezy with fresh, gusty southwest winds, which will ease later. Highest temperatures of 9C to 13C, mildest in the southeast.
“St Patrick's night will be dry with clear spells and with frost places Lowest temperatures of -2C to 2C. Light and variable breezes will become southeasterly overnight.”
Looking ahead to the one-off extra bank holiday on Friday, a forecaster said: “Friday will be dry with good sunny spells. It will be noticeably milder with highest temperatures of 10C to 15C and moderate south to southeast breezes.
“It will be coolest along south and east coasts and mildest in the midlands and Connacht.
“Friday night will be dry and clear with a light to moderate southeasterly breeze. Lowest temperatures of 3C to 6C.”
