What is a Brocken Spectre?

It is your own shadow projected onto nearby mist or cloud when the sun is behind you. With few distance cues, the shadow can look like an enormous figure far away; any coloured rings around it are a separate optical effect called a glory.

When is the best time to see a Brocken Spectre in the UK?

You need sun behind you and mist or cloud opposite it. An inversion can provide a dramatic cloud sea but is not required, and the effect can occur in any season; a low sun often makes the shadow especially striking.

Where in the UK can I see a Brocken Spectre?

Any elevated viewpoint can work when the sun, observer and cloud align. Helvellyn, Crib Goch, Ben Macdui and Ben Nevis are well-known examples, but no horseshoe ridge or glacial bowl is required—and you should always view from a safe position well back from edges.

Weather The Elements

The Brocken Spectre

When the sun sits behind you and mist lies ahead, your shadow can loom across the cloud with coloured glory rings around it—a Brocken Spectre that is dramatic, personal and always worth viewing from a safe position.

27 August 20268 min read