The UK Met Office has revealed that the newfound ‘orange glow’ to clouds over Britain is actually the result of the rampaging wildfires incinerating the western coast of the United States.
The national weather service released an advisory indicating that wildfire smoke has drifted all the way across the North American landmass and over the Atlantic, informing Britons to “expect to see some colourful sunsets” and adding that “the moon also has a definite orange hue to it at the moment too.”
Several people responded to the message to say that they had noticed the strange shade of the sky and shared images apparently confirming the peculiar phenomenon.
A nice orange sunrise this morning in London too ? pic.twitter.com/IcdIblMImF
However, not everyone thought it was appropriate to celebrate the new hue courtesy of record-breaking wildfires devastating the western seaboard of the US. “Fantastic. The world’s on f**king fire, but let’s enjoy the sunset!”wrote one somewhat sardonic Twitter user.
“Jesus Christ. The skies are on fire over in America but look at the views!”agreed another.
At least 10 people have been confirmed killed by the wildfires in California, with an additional five killed by fires in Washington state and Oregon. Some 3.1 millions acres of land has burned in California this year, a record for the state likely to continue to be broken with four months of fire season left to come.
Noticed a bit of a orange glow this morning? There is some evidence on trajectory models from NOAA for traces of smoke originating from the U.S #wildfires causing more of an orange tint to the cirrus clouds here in the UK this morning. #OrangeSkypic.twitter.com/yikMKO7zqU
The Complex Fire has become the biggest wildfire in Californian history as multiple smaller fires combined amid high temperatures and strong winds, creating the perfect firestorm.
More than half a million people have been displaced by the ongoing fires which have ravaged the western US, as 900,000 acres of wildfires have been recorded in Oregon alone.
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has said that at least five towns had been substantially destroyed and that the area of land scorched by fire in just the last 72 hours is twice the state’s annual average.
“We have never seen this amount of uncontained fire across our state,” she said.
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