Strange things happened to the weather this summer in Scotland. In June and July the Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland had the warmest and driest weather compared with their regional averages. Yet southwest Scotland had its wettest August on record.

A glowing ball of orange fiery light with a fizzing sound was reported passing outside Longside, Aberdeenshire, on the evening of August 26. This was possibly a case of ball lightning, a rare electrical weather phenomenon.

On the evening of August 8, another strange light was seen by Dr A. G. Maclean, who was travelling eastwards in a car on the A939 near Bridge of Brown, Moray, in the Highlands. “I and two of my companions saw what appeared to be a red traffic light on the road about 1km ahead of us on the opposite side of the valley,” Dr Maclean wrote. “It was brighter than a traffic light, and I thought that it might be an object reflecting the bright sunlight. However, it turned green, pale blue, then vanished.” The spectacle lasted about five seconds and appeared on a bare hillside. When the car passed the location a few minutes later there was no sign of anything that could explain the light.

Most weather explanations can be ruled out, such as a rare blue flash from a setting sun, or a mirage of a coloured object. Perhaps this was another case of ball lightning.