OLI SCARFF/AFP via Getty Images
© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Is Earth trying to kill us?
Adding to the surreal feeling that 2020 has consisted of a series of Exodus-style plagues, a huge swarm of flying ants swept across the United Kingdom on Saturday, and the swarm was so huge and so dense that weather radar mistakenly identified it as rain.
Brits were understandably confused when the U.K.'s Meteorological Office (known as the Met Office) displayed a weather map Sunday showing that it was raining in several places where absolutely no precipitation was falling.
The Met Office's Twitter account quickly attempted to clear things up and sheepishly admitted that a giant cloud of flying ants was to blame for the mishap.
It's not raining in London, Kent or Sussex, but our radar says otherwise...📡 The radar is actually picking up a sw… https://t.co/6OMtZMy9Or— Met Office (@Met Office) 1594982457.0
Some initial reports erroneously stated that the cloud of ants was so huge that it was visible from space, but the Met Office quickly cleared up any confusion on that.
Twittertwitter.com
The radar error was due to a phenomenon known as Flying Ant Day, which occurs once a year in the U.K. Flying ants across the country leave their nests in a frenzied search for mates. As a result, billions of ants take to the skies at essentially the same time.
It should be noted, there is at least some amount of scientific disagreement as to whether Flying Ant Day is a misconception and that some scientists have suggested that the existence of a single Flying Ant Day is really a myth that is fed by the phenomenon of people remarking about it repeatedly on social media.
Either way, this particular cloud of flying ants was clearly unusual. BBC meteorologist Bryan King said that this was the largest cloud of insects he'd ever seen in the U.K.: "For it to actually to appear on the radar imagery, that's something certainly incredible, and I just feel sorry for all the people who have to experience those flying ants."
Perhaps equally pestilential were the massive flocks of seagulls that were reported to have congregated upon the cloud in order to enjoy a flying ant feast.
Want to leave a tip?
We answer to you. Help keep our content free of advertisers and big tech censorship by leaving a tip today.
Want to join the conversation?
Already a subscriber?
Managing Editor, News
Leon Wolf is the managing news editor for Blaze News.
LeonHWolf
more stories
Sign up for the Blaze newsletter
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content that may sometimes include advertisements. You may opt out at any time.
© 2024 Blaze Media LLC. All rights reserved.
Get the stories that matter most delivered directly to your inbox.
By signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content that may sometimes include advertisements. You may opt out at any time.