LONDON — Don't worry, the end of the world is not upon us. But you may have to wash your car after the weekend.
With dust from the Sahara Desert in the air and rain in the forecast for Friday night and Saturday, the UK could see a rare "blood rain" event — a dramatic term for when rain mixes with desert sand and dust.
For rain to appear red, there must be high concentrations of red dust particles, the UK Met Office explained on its website. "In the case of blood rain, strong winds or storms can whip up dust and sand. As this becomes airborne, it can get caught up in atmospheric circulation, where it can be carried for thousands of miles."
Eventually, dust either falls from the sky because of gravity or is caught in rain clouds, where it mixes with the water droplets, according to the UK Met Office. When those droplets fall as rain, they could appear red.
Blood rain is more commonly seen in southern parts of Europe such as Spain and southern parts of France, since these areas are closer to Africa.
This satellite animation from the Met Office shows how winds can carry desert dust thousands of miles.
The Met Office points to blood rain references contained in Homer's epic The Iliad, which was likely written around the 8th century B.C. It also says that the UK rarely sees "proper" blood rain, which means we may just get dusty yellow, brownish rain, which is not nearly as much fun.