Marlene Pointon is still pinching herself at the sheer joy of being in the right place at the right time to see her first fogbow and capture the fascinating phenomenon on camera.

“I looked up and here’s this white rainbow. Oh my god, it was really exciting,” Ms Pointon said.

“As quick as it appeared it disappeared.”

Ms Pointon turned to the internet to discover the science behind the rare sight.

Rainbow’s ghostly cousin

Also called a ghost rainbow, a fogbow is similar to its colourful meteorological cousin, but instead forms when sunlight interacts with much smaller water droplets contained in fog or mist, rather than rain.

Sunlight is diffracted as well as refracted by the fine droplets, creating a pale and wider arch than a rainbow.