‘Red Rain’ at Bordigbera, Italy

`RED rain' fell at Bordighera on the morning of October 31, coating the pavements and vegetation with a dense red - brown deposit which turned to salmon colour when dry. The shower, which terminated about noon (English summer time), was accompanied by a current of hot moist air from the east. The previous day was wet and overcast, and the evening after the shower there was a thunderstorm with long flashes of lightning from east to west at an estimated altitude never touching below 2500 feet. Samples of the deposit (doubtless sand from the Sahara) are being preserved for microscopical examination.