6:30pm Wednesday 1st September 2010
PEOPLE across East Lancashire could hardly believe their eyes when they looked up and saw an upside- down rainbow.
The circumzenithal arc, to give it its official title, was visible for at least an hour over Burnley, Padiham, and parts of Hyndburn, on Tuesday.
Rainbows occur by light passing through raindrops, causing a spectrum of different colours to appear. But the circumzenithal arc is created by light passing through ice crystals.
These crystals are part of cirrus clouds, which are thin, wisp-like strands that lie between nine and 10 miles high in the sky.
Unlike normal rainbows, only a quarter of the multi-coloured arc is formed, as opposed to a full rainbow.
A spokesman for the Met Office said: “It is considered a halo phenomenon and when someone sees one it is quite a sight.
"It is quite unusual and they don’t usually stay for very long.”
Although it is not unusual to have high cirrus clouds in summer, as the troposphere is actually higher when it is warmer, it is unusual to spot the arcs as they appear so high in the sky.
The arc was visible from Church, near Accrington, where it was spotted by 62-year-old Cecilia Collard. She said: “I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, I’d never seen a rainbow like this before.
"I saw it around 3pm and it was there for at least an hour. It was an amazing sight.”
UPSIDE DOWN: The picture sent in by Julie Walker
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