The night sky had turned blood red due to the reflection of fishing boat lights in China.

Footage shows the eerie sight of a bright scarlet hue enveloping the horizon as seen from a street in Zhejiang province on May 23.

The bizarre scene sparked fears among locals, but the Dinghai District Meteorological Bureau said it was not a natural phenomenon but caused by trawlers' red lights.

An expert from the Space Physics Research Team of China University of Geosciences in Wuhan who analysed the video said red fishing boat light has a longer wavelength and strong penetrating power. Due to this, the expert added that it could scatter among liquid droplets in the atmosphere to a farther range.

The video was captured less than a month after another Chinese city was plunged into darkness with storm clouds turning the day into night.

City officials in Changsha, the capital and largest city of Hunan province in China, even decided to switch on the street lights on April 29, as the heavy storm made everything as dark as night.

One eyewitness, Xiao, said the pitch-black daytime happened while he was taking an order from Shaoshan South Road in Tianxin District.

He said: 'The rain was just too heavy. I didn't stop to take shelter.'