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In pictures: Magical sun halo lights up sky in northern Sweden

Christian Krug
Christian Krug - [email protected]
In pictures: Magical sun halo lights up sky in northern Sweden
The halo in the mountains close to Sweden's border to Norway. Photo: Tomas Björnerbäck

A sun halo or a portal to another world?

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Tomas Björnerbäck took these incredible photos with his phone showing the sun over the ski region Hemavan when he went up one of the main ski lifts, Kungsliften.

“The trip up started really foggy with only 50 metres of visibility”, he told The Local.

But soon the trip would be worth the effort.

“At around half way to the top, we suddenly came out of the fog, above the clouds, and the blue sky was all around us. There were ice crystals in the air, and from the top of the ski lift, I took these pictures.”


What a view the skiers could enjoy this weekend in Hemavan. Photo: Tomas Björnerbäck

A halo effect is a light phenomenon appearing as a ring around the sun or more suns on the sky. It happens when the light is shining through ice crystals in the air.

”For a halo to be formed, ice crystals must have clean geometric shapes. This is because the light will be spread and reflected in the same direction. If ice crystals are shaped unevenly, we get an irregular distribution and we get an even haze instead of a halo,” SVT meteorologist Åsa Rasmussen explained.


The ice crystals in the air make a ring and three suns appear, a beautiful halo. Photo: Tomas Björnerbäck

No matter what caused the scenery, Björnerbäck certainly enjoyed the view.

“It was no winds at all and really beautiful up there!”

The sun halo comes two weeks after another rare weather phenomenon was photographed in Sweden. Check out these pictures of a strange 'UFO cloud' in the sky over ski resorts Åre and Duved.

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