Sun Pillar

I almost gave the park a miss this morning as the forecast was for heavy cloud. When I saw the sky I realise a good sunrise was on the books, the swimming bag was rapidly swapped for my camera bag and off I dashed to the park. It turns out that this Sun Pillar, as it is called, is a rare weather phenomenon, and forms when sunlight reflects off the surfaces of falling ice crystals associated with thin, high level clouds, like cirrostratus clouds.
It was reported on in today's Metro.