What is blood rain?

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The United Kingdom is all set to experience a shower of blood this Halloween. Sounds spooky? Well, if the weather prediction of the metereological department proves correct, then UK could experience what is known as “blood rain” this week. Blood rain is a weather phenomenon in which the rain carries sand from the desert.

The rainfall is reddish in colour, which justifies the name. After the rain dries off, it leaves a red residue which has the potential to stain houses and cars.
In ancient times, it was considered a bad omen since people thought it was real blood that was falling from the skies. There are references of blood rain found in Homer’s Iliad that was written approximately in the 8th century BC. It was not until the 17th century that people began to offer scientific reasons behind the phenomenon.
Recorded instances of blood rain show that it usually covers a small area. However, it’s duration could range from anywhere between a few hours to several days.
Since the past few days, there have been storms in the Sahara desert, that is about 2,000 miles away from the UK. Weather experts said that these storms are usually responsible for dust and sand being blown towards UK. The current hot air blowing from North Africa will bring warm temperatures followed by what is commonly known as “blood rain”. Countries like Spain and France have already witnessed the phenomenon, while in India, Kerala had blood rain in 2001. Several theories have tried to explain the phenomenon. Some say the rainfall consists of dust from meteorites while some others claim to have found extraterrestrial cells in the water samples.