‘Speechless’ hiker spots rare Brocken spectre weather phenomenon in Wales
The rare weather quirk was spotted by Liam Roberts on a mountain in North Wales.
A hiker has said he was “speechless” after seeing a colourful Brocken spectre when out walking in North Wales.
The rare weather phenomenon was spotted by Liam Roberts, a lorry driver from Bangor, while he was climbing Moel Eilio, a mountain in Snowdonia.
A Brocken spectre appears in specific conditions when sunlight shines on an observer stood at a height in mist, projecting a larger-than-life shadow of themselves onto the water vapour which can appear to move.
“I’ve never seen anything like this before… I’m speechless,” the 35-year-old told the PA news agency.
“I kind of turned around to look at the views and I see this circle. I honestly thought it was some kind of rainbow it kept getting brighter then it disappeared then came back for about four minutes.
“It was unbelievable I couldn’t take my eyes off it, it was so unreal I was shocked.”
According to the Met Office, the term Brocken spectre was coined by German pastor and natural scientist Johann Silberschlag in 1780, a reference to the Brocken peak of the Harz mountain range.
The optical oddity is mentioned in classical literature, including in the works of Charles Dickens and Lewis Carroll.
