An incredibly rare red rainbow has been captured over Altrincham this morning.
The picture of the rainbow was taken by Sally Clare, from Timperley, while she was walking on Altrincham Golf Course at dawn this morning.
The picture shows a red dome glowing in the sky, with a very different appearance to a typical multi-coloured rainbow.
Red rainbows – also known as monochrome rainbows – are described by Wikipedia as an “optical and meteorological phenomenon and a rare variation of the more commonly seen multi-coloured rainbow”.
They’re formed when the low angle of the sun results in a longer distance for its light to travel through the atmosphere, causing shorter wavelengths of light – such as green, blue and yellow – to be scattered and leaving primarily red.
When there is the right level of water droplets for light to be reflected, refracted and dispersed, the phenomenal and extremely rare visual effect is formed.
