For a few hours on Monday, it appeared as if an Instagram filter had been placed on the United Kingdom skies. An apocalyptic shade of reddish-yellow took over the sky, much to the shock and wonder of people in the UK, who recorded pictures and videos of the unusual occurrence (above).

The phenomenon was visually dramatic but the reason for it was simple. The red sun (video below) and yellow skies were caused by Hurricane Ophelia, which brought in sand from southern Europe and Africa. The African desert sand was accompanied by debris from forest fires in Spain and Portugal and hot air from Spain and North Africa, which increased temperatures in the UK over the weekend.

The scattering of the sand became noticeable in south-west UK on Monday morning, before gradually spreading across the country in the afternoon. The sand particles scattered the light and gave the appearance of a sunset at midday. Although the dust has cleared up now, it was predicted to return on Wednesday.