After a short burst of excitement she hurriedly asked him to look at the sky and when Mr Richter promptly lifted his gaze he immediately understood why.

From his observation point he could see a bright ring of coloured light circling the sun - something he’d never seen before.

The optical phenomenon, known as a 22° halo, was formed when sunlight refracted through hexagonal ice crystals in the atmosphere and was deflected at a 22° angle.

Because light waveforms are of varying strength the ring would have appeared to be coloured with the inner edge reddish and the outer bluish.

See this week's Roxby Downs Sun for more.