Sunset 18th Feb. At first there was little sign of anything unusual, but as the sun went lower still, instead of getting darker, the sky above (from a point directly above - right down to the horizon) began to take on a strange luminous white quality. Over the next 10-15 minutes the glow from this layer grew brighter and appeared quite distinct from the normal warm colours of sunset - being closer in hue to daylight as the remaining strip of “ first sunset” faded.
17.16
Although the sky directly above looked a bit unusual at this stage it only gave a slight clue as to what would happen next.
There’s a bit of a gap in the time sequence here.
17.37
17.38
17.42
17.43
By this time folk were starting to stand around the street with cameras, looking a bit awestruck, others were on their mobile phones telling friends to get down here quick. Gives you faith in human nature...
17.51
As the sun receded even further below the horizon the colour of this extreme high cloud layer began to warm up as the sunlight began to pass at an increasingly oblique angle through the haze once again in the manner of a “normal” sunset.
