Stunning sunrise burns bright in the South West

Hues of red, orange and yellow burnt bright across South West skies on Wednesday morning.

The spectacular sunrise was captured by residents in Devon and Cornwall.

With the help of stunning photos featured below, BBC News explains how the different colours are generated.

The colour of the sky is determined by the scattering of the sun's light rays as they pass through the atmosphere.

A red sunrise can be a sign of good weather having passed, BBC South West weather presenter Dan Downs said.

The deep fiery colours could however indicate that a storm was on its way, with the potential of rain.

This type of red sky appears when dust and small particles are trapped in the atmosphere by high pressure.

This scatters blue light leaving only red light to give the sky its notable appearance.

More purple tones can be the result of an optical illusion.

Pink wavelengths light up the base of the cloud - due to the low angle of the sun's rays - and these are superimposed on a dark sky.