THIS was the stunning effect produced by a “halo” around the sun.

The rare phenomenon called a “sun dog” occurs when the sun shines through ice crystals.

This picture was taken from Bournemouth beach by photographer Chris Skone-Roberts.

The spectacular sight is called pathelia in scientific circles but is also known as a ‘halo’ or ‘mock sun’.

They are formed by the ice crystals acting like prisms and bending the sunlight.

Chris, 40, from Bournemouth, said: “It was just after 1pm and I looked up and saw the halo around the sun. They’re very rare and are not often complete. Lots of people were trying to get photographs of it on their phones, but that's not easy to do.”

Chris used a special UV filter to safely capture the image. “You should never point a camera directly at the sun,” he stressed.

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