According to the Met Office, the chances of real blood rain are slim.

Gundersen says: “It’s not uncommon to have some Saharan dust particles mixed in with the rainfall when the source air comes from northern Africa as we have seen in recent days. The most common impact of this can be a dusty film sometimes appearing on people’s cars.”

“However, over the next few days, the air over the UK will have a more marine origin, which reduces the chances of dust being mixed in with the rain and giving that bit of a yellow haze.”

“So, although there’s a chance of some dust being rained out in the south-east early next week, any amounts of dust would be relatively small and would likely be soon washed away.”

True blood rain in the UK is very rare, despite what some headlines suggest. Yellow and brown dust in fairly low concentrations can be more common in the UK, largely resulting in a film of dust after a rain shower, but any visual impacts on the rainfall are generally minor and fairly short-lived.

Blood rain: what is it and are we going to see it in the UK this week?