The eerie orange sun followed by day darkness was not a precursor to the end of the world, but an unusual, if entirely natural, sequence of events. Easterly winds over north Africa produced some very warm weather in the Canary Islands but the air was thick with Saharan sand. Meanwhile, hurricane Ophelia was edging northeastwards to the west of Iberia where prolonged drought has caused numerous forest fires. As Ophelia became a deep, but extra-tropical, depression, it rushed north towards southwest Ireland dragging the Saharan sand and smoke from Iberian forest fires with it. It caused the sun to weaken and appear orange. Thick, mostly upper level, cloud associated with the remnants of the hurricane, together with the sand and smoke, led to near darkness in the middle of the afternoon. Fortunately, very little rain fell, but the few spots that dropped from the leaden skies were very dusty, and those with light vehicles could hardly fail to notice a colour change.