Snowdon walker captures rare ghostly sight at New Year's sunrise

A Snowdon hiker managed to capture a very rare ghostly sight as he climbed the mountain on New Year's Day.

Rhys Pleming and his friend climbed the highest peak in Wales using the Llanberis path in the early hours of Wednesday to capture the first sunrise of the decade.

But, as well as stunning views over Snowdonia , the 30-year-old also caught the remarkable phenomenon known as the Brocken spectre - reports North Wales Live.

Rhys had scaled Snowdon on New Year's Day when he witnessed the Brocken spectre (Rhys Pleming)

The optical illusion appears when the low sun shines behind someone looking down into mist from a ridge.

The atmospheric conditions throw the person's shadow forward, creating a shadow silhouetted against a circular rainbow.

Rhys, who began the hike to the summit at 6am on New Year's Day despite having been out the night before, said it was "majestical".

Rhys also photographed the first sunrise of the decade (Rhys Pleming)

He said: "There was only a 50/50 chance of seeing the sunrise because of the cloud, but me and my friend decided to go up anyway.

"He told me to walk ahead because he was a bit slower than me, so I must have summited around 8.15am and started to take a few pictures of the sunrise. There were a few other people there at that point too.

"It was about an hour later when my friend arrived at the top that the Brocken spectre happened. It was perfect timing. It was just pure luck.

"I heard someone ask whether they'd just seen what happened, and next thing it just appeared as a cloud went over us.

A brocken spectre can often appear larger than the person observing it, giving the impression of some kind of giant grey creature. (Shane Cross)

"I was speaking to one person who said they had summited Snowdon over 40 times and it was the first time they'd ever seen anything like it before.

"I'd only gone to get some pictures of the sunrise, but this was just a bonus. It was majestical.

"It was a New Year to remember."

In the past, the phenomenon also known as the Brocken bow was thought to be a supernatural creature dubbed The Big Grey Man of Ben Macdui.

It can also often appear larger than the person observing it, giving the impression of some kind of giant grey creature.

Those hoping to catch sight of a Brocken spectre should set off in the early morning, when shadows are longer and have more chance of falling on to the cloud.