'Doomsday orange sky' freaks out parts of UK, France

The sky turns orange and yellow in Brittany Monday, Oct.16, 2017 in Chasne-sur-Illet, western France. The sky in France's Brittany region turned yellow as nearby Ophelia storm brought a mix of sand from Sahara and particles from Spain and Portugal's forest fires over the region. Ophelia post-tropical cyclone passed west of the Brittany coast Monday before bringing violent winds to Ireland and the United Kingdom. (AP Photo/David Vincent)

Weather apocalypse? A strange red sun and bizarre yellow/orange sky were visible in parts of the U.K. and France Monday as a result of Hurricane Ophelia.

The “ghostly red sun” was visible in the U.K.’s south West, West Midlands, North West and North East, the Telegraph reports.

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Ophelia weakened on Sunday night and was no longer classified as a hurricane on Monday, according to the U.K.’s Met Office. The strange skies, however, were clearly caused by the storm. “An interesting phenomena that is a result of the movement of ex-Ophelia is the colour of the sky and the sun this morning (Monday), and dust on cars,” explained the Met Office, in a statement. “The same southerly winds that have brought us the current warmth have also drawn dust from the Sahara to our latitudes and the dust scatters the blue light from the sun letting more red light through much as at sunrise or sunset.”

The weird sun sparked a flurry of activity on social media, with one Instagram user commenting that “It looks like the apocalypse is coming!”

The sky in France's Brittany region also turned yellow as the nearby storm brought a mix of sand from the Sahara and particles from Spain and Portugal's forest fires over the region. The post-tropical cyclone passed west of the Brittany coast Monday before bringing violent winds to Ireland and the U.K.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.