A GLARING light in the sky caught the attention of a resident who thought it was part of the Northern Lights.

The bright coloured light appeared in the sky on Wednesday and caught Martin Fowkes by surprise as he was putting his daughter to bed at their home in Deane.

After taking a picture of the strange red orange and blue light, which was hovering over Haslam Park, the dad of one sent the pictures to The Met Office.

Staff there confirmed that it wasn't part of the Northern Lights but that he had in fact just witnessed a very rare occurrence.

Mr Fowkes, aged 34, of Willows Lane, said: "I just saw it in the corner of my eye from the bedroom window of my daughters room as me and my wife were putting her to bed.

"I thought it was just the sun at first but it was so bright — it looked a bit like a shining Nike tick in the sky.

"My wife went out and took a picture of it and then I sent it to the Met Office on twitter.

"I thought it could have been part of the Northern Lights but they said it was caused by light diffracting off water droplets.

"They said it was very rare though.

"I've never seen anything like it before.

"I did try and get my daughter to have a look at it but she was more interested in looking at a cat across the road."

In their response to Mr Fowkes on Twitter The Met Office said the light was 'iridescent clouds'.

A spokesman said: "Iridescence occurs in high level cumulus clouds on rare occasions when light is diffracted by water droplets or ice crystals to create a stunning vivid display of colour."