Blood Rain Predicted To Fall In The United Kingdom This Halloween

by Jessica Festa on

Blood rain just before Halloween? While it may sound like a festive prank, forecasters are really predicting this bizarre weather occurrence.

The phenomenon is actually a mix of red dust from the Sahara Desert blowing toward Europe. However, because it’s supposed to rain, the dust will most likely mix with the precipitation causing red raindrops, or blood rain.

Other predictions include the blood rain spattering and staining cars to mixing with snow to create a gruesome winter wonderland.

“The warm air has been drawn from a long way south down in north Africa and is spreading north,” London’s Met Office forecaster Emma Sharples told news.com.au. “But there is going to be a sharp contrast in weather as a cold snap sweeps across the country from Friday, which is likely to bring snow to Scotland and the north of England.”

This isn’t the first time the U.K. has experienced blood rain. Throughout history it has been noted, and in earlier times was used to presage unfortunate events. In fact, as early as 685 the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded “there was a bloody rain in Britain. And milk and butter were turned to blood. And Lothere, king of Kent, died.”

Let’s hope this year’s blood rain is nothing more than an uncanny incidence.

[Image via Shutterstock]

London Construction Reveals Medieval Graves, Bronze Age Road

by Sean McLachlan on

London is built on layers of its own past. Occasionally they poke through to the present, like the old Roman walls and the Temple of Mithras. Now two current construction projects have revealed glimpses of the city’s previous epochs.

Work to build a leisure center at Elephant and Castle has uncovered some 500 medieval skeletons, the London Evening Standard reports. They were interred in 25 crypts. It appears they were relocated into the crypts in 1875 to accommodate a widening of the road but date as far back as the early 14th century. Now new construction dictates they’ll have to be reinterred again. Not even the dead get to rest long in London!

Another project creating a new tunnel for Crossrail at Plumstead has uncovered a much older transport system, the BBC reports. Archaeologists believe timbers they’ve discovered at the site are part of a 3,500-year-old Bronze Age trackway.

These wooden roads were used to ease travel across rough areas, especially wetlands. Similar trackways have been found in many locations in the UK and continental Europe. The odd thing about this one is that it runs along the same route as the new Crossrail route.

One great place to explore London’s history is the Museum of London. The British Museum has good galleries about prehistoric, Roman and Medieval England. The Crossrail Visitor Information Centre also has an archaeology exhibit until October 27 showing off some of their discoveries. The finds range from the prehistoric to the Industrial Revolution, although these latest finds are still being analyzed and will not be on display.

[Image of 15th century funeral procession at the Old St. Paul’s cathedral courtesy Project Gutenberg]

Roman Cavalry Helmet To Be Star Attraction At Royal Academy Exhibition

by Sean McLachlan on


A new exhibition at the Royal Academy in London will feature one of Britain’s most stunning archaeological discoveries of the past few years.

Back in 2010, a metal detectorist found this brass helmet in a field in Cumbria, northern England. It dates from the first to third centuries A.D. and is one of a few rare ornate cavalry helmets dating to the Roman period. These helmets were worn for tournaments and parades rather than battle.

Now it will be part of “Bronze,” an exhibition of works made of bronze or brass from the prehistoric period to the present day. More than 150 works from Africa, Asia, and Europe are organized into themes such as the human figure, animals, groups, objects, reliefs, heads and busts, and gods. Examples come from such widely different cultures as ancient Greece, Etruria, Benin, Renaissance Italy, and modern Europe.

To learn more about these helmets, check out this page on Roman parade helmets and this page on more standard-issue Roman cavalry helmets.

Bronze runs from September 15 to December 9.

[Photo courtesy Daniel Pett]

Gangs Of Mice Attack Tube Travelers In London

by Jessica Festa on

When riding the subway, it’s not uncommon to see signs warning travelers of route changes and to be wary of pickpockets; however, According to the UK’s Daily Mail, London’s Farringdon Station has an uncommon warning for tube users:

“The mice at this station have been attacking customers. Please place the bottom of your trousers into your socks to avoid being a victim of the Farringdon mice.”

Apparently, mice have been “attacking” the feet of commuters as they wait for their train. It’s a bit of a mystery, however, as tube staff deny being the ones to put the sign up. While it’s now been taken down, thousands of people have already seen it and have taken to Twitter to spread the word.

For example, @alfredcamp wrote, “The #EssexLion turned out to be a harmless pussycat. The #FarringdonMice turned out to be far more sinister!”

@AlexKammAndSons also tweeted, saying, “I am not passing through Farringdon without a packet of mini cheddars as mouse bait #Farringdonmice.”

And @secret_escapes is now having nightmares. “Last night I dreamt that I was savaged by a (very large & scary) mouse. Now this warning appears. OMEN. #FarringdonMice”

[Image via Rama]

Hadrian’s Wall To Be Turned Into World’s Longest Work Of Art

by Sean McLachlan on


Hadrian’s Wall has been the traditional boundary between England and Scotland ever since it was built by the Romans in the second century A.D. This 73-mile long structure was once the northernmost limit of the Roman Empire.

As part of the London 2012 Festival, the New York-based artists’ collective YesYesNo will light up the entire length with a series of tethered balloons lit by internal LED lights to create a line of pulsating colors. The project, called Connecting Light, aims to transform this protective border into a line of communication.

The lights will change color to respond to messages sent across the wall. Go to the website to write your own and it may be picked to be part of this interesting project. They’re looking for messages about connectivity across borders, are pretty much anything positive. Check out their blog to see how this massive art project is shaping up.

If you can’t make it up there, you can follow the action online. The project runs from August 31-September 1.