Ophelia Stains London's Sky Red and Batters Ireland

Ophelia brought gale-force winds to southern Ireland early Monday, with hurricane-force winds due this afternoon. Schools are closed, and coastal areas are preparing for flooding. The Irish Stock Exchange closed its office, although trading will continue as normal, while the Irish central bank told staff to work from home. Ophelia could become the strongest post-tropical system to rake Ireland since Hurricane Debbie in 1961, which killed 18 people.

While Ophelia has brought damage across Ireland, it has apparently turned the sky red over parts of the U.K.

“As Ophelia has moved northwards towards us it has brought winds from Africa and those winds have transported some Saharan dust and smoke from wildfires in Portugal,” Helen Chivers, a meteorologist with the U.K. weather service, said. “These dust particles split the light from the sun and filter out the blue light. As a result, all you can see is the red light.”