Locals share photos of ‘blue and purple’-tinged moon and sun as Met Office explain cause

A unique weather phenomenon has transformed the normally bright moon and sun into a cool blue/purple colour.

Some observers may think it is a casual trick of the eye, but they would be wrong as a mixture of Canadian wildfire smoke and high cloud create a dazzling purple sun.

It could be spotted across the Highlands, Moray and Aberdeenshire, where the sun stood out amongst the greyish clouds like an amethyst gemstone.

However, some people on social media have argued the sun’s colour is cool blue.

The reason for the purple/blue sun is due to the wildfire smoke diffusing the sunlight, which has been pulled across the Atlantic Ocean from North America due to Storm Agnes.

Here are some of pictures sent in by P&J readers.