A circular rainbow around the sun is what some Antwerp residents were able to see on Monday. This is a rather special weather phenomenon, a "halo" that occurs in sunny weather.
Antwerpian Thijs Van Vijnckt spotted the very special rainbow and sent VRT the photograph below. In Antwerp the rainbow made a complete circle around the sun, as if the sun were a kind of eye. Thijs says he’s never witnessed this before, but according to VRT weatherman Bram Verbruggen, the phenomenon is often seen in sunny weather.
"We call this weather phenomenon a 'halo'," he explains. "It occurs because ice crystals in high clouds reflect sunlight in different ways. This may be in the colours of a rainbow, often in a full circle around the sun as in the picture here. So it is not a rainbow as we know it."
The phenomenon is not that unique either, though it is still very special to see. "Yesterday, for instance, I received several pictures from weather watchers" Bram notes.