Rare Pink Rainbows Light Skies Of South And West England

"Just waiting for the unicorn to trot past."
LOADINGERROR LOADING

A pink rainbow lit up the skies above parts of Britain on Monday evening.

The rare sight was spotted in Dorset, Somerset and Gloucestershire.

Rainbows that appear at sunrise and sunset appear pink because the sun is lower in the sky.

The optical illusion is caused when the colours at the red end of the spectrum are the only ones to be refracted - making the rainbow appear pink.

Angela Taylor spotted the rainbow above Marie Road in Dorchester.

She said: “It was absolutely beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it.

“I thought to myself, this world can be such an ugly place, and then you see something like this.”

Rainbows are an arc-shaped spectrum of light which are created by refraction and reflection.

BBC Weather expert Lan Boutland said: “Rainbows witnessed at dawn and dusk can, on occasion, be pink because of the low sun angle at that time of day.”

Close

What's Hot