Cambridgeshire sunset thrills Fen photographers

Martin Nikel caught the image of a large cloud rolling over Tanholt Farm in the Fens

An impressive sunset over Cambridgeshire caught the eye of photographers on Thursday evening.

Martin Nikel, who captured the image of a large cloud rolling over the Fens from his front garden in the village of Eye, said it was "spectacular".

He grabbed his camera when he "noticed the eerie red glow" outside.

Weatherquest said the effects were caused by the cloud being "illuminated by the sun at a very low angle, just before setting".

Forecaster Phil Garner said: "At that angle, most of the blue and violet light has been scattered by the atmosphere, leaving just the red end of the spectrum to be reflected off the cloud to the observer."

He added that Mr Nikel's photograph was "most impressive" and showed the bottom of a large cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud, with "udder-like protuberances or mammatus, hanging down where rain is leaving".

'Healthy hobby'

The photographer said he had been out for a walk and the sky had been "looking unspectacular" as the clouds were coming over.

"But when I got back home I noticed the eerie red glow of sunshine and rushed back out with my camera," he said.

"I looked up and saw the cloud reflecting light back down on me," he said.

Mr Nikel moved to the village near Peterborough just before the first lockdown last year and said photography had "been like a godsend".

"It's a healthy hobby - I try to get out all the time as it's exercise and creative and mindful," he said.

"Here we have all of these amazingly wide open skies so I have got a lot of pictures of sunsets and sunrises."

The countryside near Ramsey was captured by Geoff Dixon

Canon Ian Black captured the sunset over Peterborough Cathedral

Fuzzi Lu caught West Walton Fens glowing yellow

BBC WeatherWatcher DeepingPosh took this picture of the Cambridgeshire/Lincolnshire border

"Seeing these colours in the sky puts me in awe of nature," artist Nick Tearle said