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Storm Ophelia is turning the sun red

A plane flies past the Shard in central London, as the sky takes on an unusual orange colour caused by Hurricane Ophelia. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)
A plane flies past the Shard in central London, as the sky takes on an unusual orange colour caused by Hurricane Ophelia. (Dominic Lipinski/PA via AP)

A red sun and hazy orange sky over parts of the UK have been caused by Storm Ophelia.

The unusual phenomenon was seen in the South-west during the middle of Monday morning, moving across to the capital in the afternoon.

Sharon Derrick shared a video of the sun over Bristol and said: ‘Bristol looks like the film The Red Planet… the weather is bizarre.

Met Office forecaster Grahame Madge said the former hurricane is pulling air and dust up from southern Europe and Africa.

‘It’s all connected with Ophelia, on the eastern side of the low pressure system air is coming up in the southern direction,’ he said.

READ MORE: Pictures show destruction caused by Ophelia

‘Air is being pulled from southern Europe and Africa and that air contains a lot of dust.

‘So it’s most likely the appearance of sunset at midday is caused by the particles scattering the light and giving the appearance of a red sun.

‘It’s certainly spectacular at the moment and quite a talking point, we’ve had a lot of calls about it.’

Others have also shared incredible shots of the sun.

At least three people in Ireland had been killed by early evening on Monday due to incidents connected with Storm Ophelia.

Gardai said that a man died in Ravensdale, Dundalk after a car he was in was struck by a tree at around 2.45pm.

A recovery operation is currently under way in the area.

In Cahir, Co Tipperary, a man in his 30s, was killed in a chainsaw accident when he was trying to clear a tree downed by the violent winds.

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Earlier, a woman died when a tree fell on to her car in severe winds.

People in Ireland have been urged to stay indoors and only travel when strictly necessary,

Remnants of the hurricane battered Britain’s west coast on Monday afternoon, with gusts of up to 80mph, exactly 30 years after the Great Storm of 1987 killed 18 people.

Storm Ophelia has turned the sun red (Picture: Met Office)
Storm Ophelia has turned the sun red (Picture: Met Office)

Gusts of over 96mph (156kph) have already battered the south west coast of Ireland. In Cork, the roof of Cork City’s football stadium was blown off.

Around 360,000 homes and businesses are now without power and trees and power lines have been blown over as the storm makes its way through the Republic of Ireland up into Northern Ireland.

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The sun burned bright red on Monday (Picture: PA)
The sun burned bright red on Monday (Picture: PA)

In the Irish Republic, schools, nurseries and colleges have been closed, court sittings postponed, numerous hospital outpatient appointments cancelled and the Defence Forces put on standby.

Businesses have been urged to consider whether opening would pose a risk to employees.

Schools were also advised to close in Northern Ireland while many college classes were also scrapped. The Lord Chief Justice advised the judiciary to cease all court hearings at 12.30pm.

All government buildings providing non-essential services were closed at 1pm and all non-essential civil service staff were sent home.