Is red sky at night really sailor’s delight?

夜晚的红霞真的是水手的福音吗？

CrowdScience

2025-05-10

27 分钟

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You may have grown up hearing the saying “red sky at night, sailor’s delight, red sky in morning, sailor’s warning” - or maybe a variation of it. CrowdScience listener Alison, who sees many dazzling red skies from her home in the Yukon, Canada, certainly did. And now she wonders if the saying is a sensible prediction of coming weather or just another old wives’ tale. Alison and presenter Anand Jagatia run a little experiment, getting up at the crack of dawn and staying up until dusk for 5 days to record if the sunset and sunrise can predict their local weather. While we wait for the results, we track this weather proverb back to its ancient roots to find out how important it may have been to the people without satellites or even thermometers to guide them. We also tap into the expertise of modern-day weather predictors, meteorologists. What are the atmospheric pressure systems that cause red skies, and how do they influence the weather globally? And what exceptions to the rules might turn a trusty old proverb on its head? Presenter: Anand Jagatia Producer: Ella Hubber Series Producer: Ben Motley

Day four sunrise, 7.15am.
And I can't believe it, it's looking pretty vivid.
The colours, the deep reds on the undersides of the clouds,
the east, and the red is expanding upwards.
The tops of the clouds are quite a deep blue-grey.
It's quite a lovely contrast.
Well, I'm very excited.
This is CrowdScience from the BBC World Service.
I'm Anand Jagatia, and that is one of our listeners, Alison,
describing the view as she watches the sun come up in her hometown.
So I live on the traditional territory of the Tanquichan and Kwanlin Dun First Nations,
Uruguay First Yukon, Canada.
When you live that far north in Canada, sunrises and sunsets can last a really long time.
And it was
while looking up at the dramatic shades of red that filled the sky one day that Alison decided to write to us at CrowdScience.
For all these years, since I was quite young, I've heard the saying,
red sky at night, sailors delight, red sky in the morning, sailors warning.
So whenever I see a vivid sunrise or sunset,
this saying comes to mind and I'd like to know if that's true.
And if it is true, why?

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Is red sky at night really sailor’s delight?

夜晚的红霞真的是水手的福音吗？

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