Those who looked at the sky on Tuesday evening may have seen a particularly red sun. The phenomenon was visible from about seven o’clock. The dark red sun can also be seen on Wednesday. Why? According to Wouter van Bernebeek of Weerplaza, this has everything to do with the forest fires that raged in Canada in recent weeks.
“We don’t see this very often in the Netherlands,” says Van Bernebeek about the phenomenon. “The air we’re in now comes from Canada. Last week there were very big wildfires there. Some of that smoke has crossed the ocean. It sounds like an end, but it took about eight days to get here to come.”
Because that sky now hangs above us, we can even look straight into the sun on Wednesday evening. “The light is partly stopped and partly broken by the smoke. That is why the sun turns so red. That happens when it is almost setting and almost rising. During the day the sun is too bright for that,” says Van Bernebeek.
According to him, it can be compared to the Sahara dust that sometimes comes our way in the spring. This resulted in beautiful sunrises and sunsets, among other things.
“I’ll bring my camera.”
It is not harmful that the smoke from the forest fires hangs over the Netherlands. “It hangs at an altitude of about ten kilometers. So it can only come down a bit when it starts to rain, but that is not really possible for the time being,” explains the meteorologist.
Van Bernebeek expects the smoke to linger above us for another evening before it moves further. That is why it is possible to see such a dark red sun again on Wednesday around sunrise and sunset. “It could just be possible, if it is a bit clear. But that is still the question, because it will be cloudy on Wednesday. But I will take my camera with me just to be sure.”
Many people from Brabant saw the natural phenomenon on Tuesday evening. Did you miss it? We’ve listed some photos for you.
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