The upside down Rainbow!

On Monday, February 4th we had some amazing things happening on our playground.  It was a very cold day and there was a lot of snow for us to play in.

First thing in the morning we noticed something very special in the sky. As we were getting ready to line up at bell time we noticed a rainbow in the sky. It wasn't an ordinary rainbow.  It was an upside down rainbow.  The children said it "looks like a smile!"  It didn't fall downwards either.  It was a joyful smile in the highest part of the sky.  The colours were not in the usual order for a rainbow-they were in the opposite order!


Upside down rainbows, or 'circumzenithal arcs' as they're properly referred to, are a rare optical phenomenon similar in appearance to a rainbow.  However, their make-up couldn't be any more different.

Unlike common rainbows which form when light reflects through raindrops, mist, or sea spray, a circumzenithal arc develops when ice crystals high up in the atmosphere bounce the rainbow's light rays back up into the sky.