'Halo' spotted around the Moon across England

A "lunar halo" has been spotted in the night skies.

The ring around the Moon was seen over the skies on Saturday evening in Staffordshire, the West Midlands, Surrey, Berkshire, Dorset, Yorkshire, Cumbria, Derbyshire and the Isle of Wight.

The phenomenon is caused by the refraction of moonlight from ice crystals in the upper atmosphere.

According to the Met Office, the halo can mean rainfall might be approaching.

It added: "The halo is caused by ice crystals formed in high clouds.

"These ice crystals then refract the light from the Moon or Sun.

"As the ice crystals travel lower, precipitation becomes more likely. In summer months particularly, the Halo can be a sign of approaching storms."

Geographer Simon Collins said he was "delighted" to catch a glimpse of the moment.

"I'm a keen weather observer [and] run a local weather station so am always delighted to see lovely weather phenomena as so many others did last night as well," the 57-year-old, who took a photo in Reigate, Surrey on Saturday night, said.

Some described witnessing the occurrence as "amazing", with others described it as "very weird" and "like a night time rainbow".

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