London turns red as Storm Ophelia brings sand from the Sahara

The sky over London turned an unusual shade of yellow on Monday as Storm Ophelia brought dust from the Sahara and smoke from wild fires in southern Europe

A man photographs the sky turning red over buildings in Canary Wharf. Tom Jacobs / Reuters

London's skies changed colour due to sands from the Sahara carried by Storm Ophelia. Tom Jacobs / Reuters

Hyde Park is bathed in a dull sepia light. Matt Dunham / AP Photo

The sky over Westminster. Mary Turner / Reuters

Girls throw leaves opposite the Houses of Parliament in London, England. Carl Court / Getty Images

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

The sky over London turned an unusual shade on Monday as Storm Ophelia brought dust from the Sahara and smoke from wild fires in southern Europe that filtered out certain wavelengths of sunlight.

Ophelia caused three deaths in Ireland on Monday, where it was the worst storm in half a century.

While winds were moderate in the British capital, the sky surprised Londoners, many of whom posted pictures on social media.

"As Ophelia has come up from the Azores, the storm has picked up Saharan dust from North Africa and picked up dust from wild fires in Spain and Portugal," a spokeswoman for Britain's Met Office said.

"This yellowish hue is from the dust that is high up in the atmosphere and the blue element of the sunlight is scattered by the dust but the red element gets through so the sun appears redder and you get this sort of yellowish tinge," she said.

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Storm Ophelia 

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