Months after netizens came to terms that 'rainbows are circles' and not arcs, as popularly believed, photo of 'flat rainbow' have been doing the rounds online. In the photograph, Instead of a usual curved shape, a beautiful layer of glowing iridescent colour was captured at the horizon over the sea surface in a flat line. The rare phenomenon was noticed in Torquay, a seaside town in Devon, England, in the afternoon after a heavy shower. The photograph captured from the shores shows the Paignton Pier on one side and a ship cruising through the waters amid the rainbow. “When we got to the pier it suddenly started raining, no clouds, just rain from the clear blue sky. The wind was strong enough to blow the rain sideways, and when we looked out to sea it seemed it was strong enough to blow a rainbow over sideways as well," a local resident told DevonLive.com witnessing the natural phenomenon, who had taken his dog for a walk seeing a clear sky. In case, you're wondering if it's fake or photoshopped, the Met Office explained the reason behind the viral photos. A spokesperson from the Met Office, UK told The Metro that it appears to be like spray, and said it was "being blown up from the sea by the strong gusty winds due to Storm Francis", which led to strong gusts of nearly 80mph (129kph) and heavy rain. "The same principles as in a usual rainbow are then in play, so the light is being reflected, refracted and dispersed by the water droplets giving the different colours. However, because it's water blown up from the sea it's flatter and not curved as when caused by water droplets/rain in the sky," the spokesperson explained. A similar phenomenon was seen in Bristol in March 2017 and in Paris in 2013 after heavy rainstorms lashed above both cities during the day.
