'Eerie' blood rain coming to UK: What is Blood Rain and how does it happen?

Rain as gothic as one that looks like blood droplets oozing out from the clouds sounds only like a scene from a horror movie.

But there are only a few weather events that grab attention like blood rain - those eerie red showers, that turn just the normal everyday drizzle into something sinister and eerie.


And this is true because the Meteorological department has predicted a ‘Blood rain’ for the UK.

UK to witness Blood rain

The UK is set to experience "blood rain" shortly, as a plume of red Saharan dust moves from Europe and mingles with ongoing showers. Experts at the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) predict it will reach southern England, according to the Daily Mail.


Mark Parrington, Senior Scientist at CAMS, explained, "Our latest forecast indicates that it will mostly pass over southern England and the Channel at higher altitudes in the atmosphere but may result in some wet deposition at ground level if it mixes with weather forecasts also showing some rain."


The plume combines Saharan dust and African biomass smoke, peaking January-March through Calima winds. "Large-scale outflow of aerosols to the North Atlantic is not uncommon at this time of year," Parrington noted. Expect it Tuesday afternoon, possibly lingering Wednesday: "It looks likely to pass over in a couple of hours on Tuesday afternoon."

What is Blood Rain ?

Strong winds over deserts lift dust high into the atmosphere, where it can travel across the globe. When rain falls, it holds the dust, turning droplets red and depositing a fine layer on surfaces as it dries.

There are no health concerns involved, just a dusty film covers the cars and windows, as Mark Parrington confirms to the Daily Mail, "It is possible that there could be some deposition to the ground which could leave some dusty residue on cars and windows as it passes over."

Elevated aerosol concentrations may also create hazy, reddish-orange skies, "An aerosol optical depth value of 1 typically means hazy skies, and the values in the plume are relatively high."


Saharan dust reaches the UK multiple times each year, occasionally contributing to higher air pollution levels.