Could Shropshire's blazing red skies have been caused by Tonga volcano?

Astronomer Tom Teague pondered some "unusually spectacular sunsets" over his home.

He said that in one he was "treated to a glorious cloudscape in magenta and indigo, lasting from about 4pm to at least 5.20pm and covering most of the sky, not just the south west.

He added: "I had seen similar sunset skies earlier in the week. I would be interested in seeing an explanation for such a long run of consecutive coloured sunsets, many of them quite spectacular."

Settled weather across the West Midlands in recent weeks has created clear skies, but Mr Teague wondered if atmospheric changes may have contributed to the intensity of the red skies.

It is a theory that is being monitored by experts at the Met Office, although it is reserving judgement.

A spokesperson for the Met Office said: "Unfortunately we cannot be sure if the Tonga eruption is having any impact.

"When we have events such as North American wildfires we often have nice sunsets here in the UK. With this sort of event it is easy to follow the smoke on imagery and the impact it is having here, this is also often the case with Saharan dust plumes.

"However, following a volcanic eruption in Tonga from the other side of the earth is a different matter. The eruption in Tonga went up through the troposphere, puncturing the tropopause into the stratosphere. However, there's no imagery to follow, so no way of proving it is having any impact on the UK now."

There is anecdotal evidence that the violent eruption of a volcano called Krakatoa in 1883 produced amazing sunsets in the weeks and months after the eruption.

But the Tonga eruption was not of the same magnitude and was also at a different latitude on the planet.

Volcano experts at the British Geological Survey also said that they don't have data on the aerosol cloud extent or position, so can't comment on Tonga specifically.

But their background information said such events were not impossible.

The famous 1893 Edvard Munch painting, The Scream, shows a red volcanic sunset over the Oslo harbour produced by the 1892 Awu eruption.

A spokesman for the British Geological Survey said: "It is possible, considering that the volcanic aerosol dust can circle the globe in two to three weeks as observed in the past.

"However, we do not have any information on the volcanic aerosol cloud extent and position in this specific case."