Scot photographer captures picture of rare sun phenomenon

An amateur photographer captured a picture of a stunning optical phenomenon - a shimmering sun halo.

A rare sun halo caught on camera by Marian Roy from Eaglesham in East Renfrewshire. Picture: SWNS

Marian Roy, 46, was driving to pick up her father from the hospital when she spotted the halo in her car mirror and stopped to capture it.

Sun halos, or 22° halos as they are commonly known, are created by sunlight interacting with ice crystals suspended in the atmosphere.

Other halo types include light pillars and sun dogs, with some fairly common and others extremely rare.

Marian, a carer and amateur photographer, said: “I was driving from Eaglesham to Hairmyres Hospital in East Kilbride to pick up my father.

“I stopped to take a call then before I drove off I checked my mirrors and saw what looked like a halo.

“I got out of the car and used my phone to take a picture.

“I saw it and thought it was a sun halo, but you usually only see them in places like Glen Coe, not Eaglesham.

“Funnily enough, when I got to the hospital and took my dad back to the car it was still there and I took another picture.

“That was about 20 minutes later so it wasn’t a blink and you miss it, it was there for a wee while.”