Strange Orange Glow Seen over Brentford Night Sky
Due to lights used in seed germination process at Brentford Stadium
The view across Brentford from Chiswick Roundabout. Picture: Sarah Kern
January 27, 2023
Residents of Brentford have been mystified over the last few nights by an orange glow in the sky.
The phenomenon generally appeared at around 10pm and was still visible by 6am the following morning.
Some thought it may have been from Heathrow or the overnight road works taking place by Chiswick Flyover but it the cause is work being done on the pitch at the Brentford Community Stadium.
Similar confusion occurred over two years ago when the pitch at Twickenham was illuminated to encourage seed germination after heavy use of the pitch.
Steve Honey, the head groundsman at the club, has posted on the Griffin Park Grapevine to say that the pitch had been overseeded and the overnight illumination was necessary to encourage the grass to grow back.
The view along Chiswick High Road on Wednesday morning. Picture: Sarah Kern
The pitch has been receiving heavy use this season with London Irish also playing its home games there and the Exiles are due to face Harlequins in the west London derby this Saturday (29 January).
A spokesperson for Brentford FC said, "The recent extreme weather conditions have led to the need for some urgent remedial works on our pitch. This work, which includes placing germination covers over the grass combined with the use of grow lights to encourage the regrowth of the pitch, has unfortunately ended up coinciding with some extremely foggy weather aggravating the amount of light being reflected into the sky.
"This problem is a very challenging one to deal with and is one that stadia across the UK experience and are trying to address.
"With the works programme progressing and the weather conditions easing, we are hopeful that this is an issue which will improve.
"We are also in touch with our suppliers to explore ways to reduce the impact of this essential work in the future."
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