The 46° halo is rare and huge. Two outspread hands from the sun, it spreads across the sky.

Its colours are also well spread. They are pastel with red on the inside and no real greens or blues.

But - If you see a fragment of a very large coloured halo twice as far from the sun as the everyday 22°, it may not be a 46° halo!

Supralateral and infralateral arcs lie in a similar position and are often mistaken for the rarer 46°.

See how to distinguish between the two halos.