A swarm of flying ants covered Britain, appearing on the weather radar as if it were a rain cloud, according to reports.
The UK weather service tweeted on Friday that its radar detected the 50-mile-wide swarm, spanning London and south-east England.
“It is not raining in London, Kent or Sussex, but our radar says otherwise … The radar is actually picking up a swarm of #flyingants in the southeast.”
A spokesman for the Meteorological Office said there would likely be “thousands” of ants inside the swarm, according to Sky News.
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“On days like today, when it is sunny, the radar detects swimming, but we can see that they do not have the same shape as water droplets and, in fact, they are more like insects,” the spokesperson added.
The swarm appears each year on a day that the British call “Flying Ant Day”, and the Meteorological Office similarly detected a cloud on radar last year. The phenomenon occurs when young queen ants, followed by males, leave their nests to reproduce and start new colonies.
As annoying as swarms can be, the Royal Society of Biology has said that insects are harmless and best ignored until they are gone. If anything, they can improve soil fertility and help aerate the soil to improve plant life.
Insects also end up as food for wild birds and other predators.
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A video shared on social media by @WilliamABooth shows a group of ants in Ipswich, England on Friday, FOX 5 reported. The cluster drew hungry seagulls, reveling in the mass of easy treats.
