RED ALERT
Blood Rain weather – Britain to be hit by Saharan dust cloud in days amid thunderstorm warning
BLOOD rain is set to hit Britain within days as thunderstorm move in, forecasters predict.
The phenomenon occurs when high concentrations of red coloured dust or particles mix with rain, giving it a red appearance as it falls.
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A yellow thunderstorm warning has been issued from Wednesday evening to the early hours of Thursday in the south-east, including London.
Richard Miles, of the Met Office, said: "There are some dust concentrations in the atmosphere above the UK at present which might well be washed out in the rain tonight, but it's likely to be relatively small amounts on the whole.
"There's a warning out for thunderstorms for the south-eastern third of England tonight, and a squally cold front will bring wind and sometimes heavy rain to Northern Ireland and north west Scotland this evening.
"Away from these features it will be mostly fine and dry today and tomorrow, temperatures up to 23-24C in London and the South East, high teens or low 20s elsewhere."
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It comes as Britain's stunning heatwave lingers on with a 24C scorcher today.
Yesterday was the warmest day of the year so far, with the mercury hitting a balmy 27.5C in Heathrow during the afternoon.
It meant the weather was better here than in holiday hotspot Santorini, where it reached only 26C.
But the heat was followed by grey skies and overnight downpours for many - and there's plenty more rain to come this week.
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The Met Office's yellow alert for storms across swathes of the country is between 7pm tonight and 3am tomorrow.
People living between Skegness in Lincolnshire and Wareham in Dorset have been warned of flash floods, power cuts and lightning strikes.
Those travelling tonight have been urged to take particular care.
Nick Miller, a meteorologist with BBC Weather, said: “After overnight rain and thunderstorms, Wednesday morning has a lot of dry weather and showers clearing northern Scotland.
"Wednesday ends with more wet weather pushing eastwards and some intense thundery downpours in places that could be torrential thunderstorms for a time overnight.
“We are in between weather systems again on Thursday."
He said that'll result in "a lot of fine weather", as well as showers in the far south-east.
The Met Office says "lively" storms could roll in after lightning lit up skies across the south on Sunday night.
This week's unstable weather is driven by a plume of humid air from Africa.
The steamy blast could also bring Saharan dust with it - which may cause "blood rain" when less cheerful weather arrives later this week.
The mercury will drop and "intense" rain is predicted in the days to come.
Combined with the dust in the atmosphere, Brits around the country may see orange skies and even rust-coloured rain.
The phenomenon was last seen in the UK back in March, when cars and windows were covered in a fine layer of dust.
The Met's long-range forecast has predicted warm temperatures to last until May 23.
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But the hot sun will also be accompanied by a "pollen bomb" which will cause misery for hayfever sufferers, experts predict.
Bookies are now offering odds of 11/10 that this May will be the hottest on record.
Alex Apati of Ladbrokes said: "With scorching temperatures still to come over the next couple of weeks, odds have once again been slashed on this going down as the hottest May ever."
In more good news, it could be stunning again by the long bank holiday weekend for the Queen's Jubilee.
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weather producer Kirsty McCabe said: "At the moment it looks as though the weather will turn drier and increasingly settled as we head towards the end of May, with high pressure becoming the dominant feature into the first week of June.
"That means we can expect largely dry, settled and warm conditions with a royally good amount of sunshine for the Jubilee weekend."
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