The footage of the so-called halo effect was captured in Russia's second city of St Petersburg – where people were stunned by the unusual sight.

Maria Borukha, head of popular science at the Petersburg Planetarium and a current PhD student in celestial mechanics at St Petersburg State University, said the false suns were known as "sun dogs". She explained that they were an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of a pair of bright spots appearing on either side of the Sun.

They can be seen anywhere in the world during any season but are rarely seen as brightly as they were in the St Petersburg area.

Nikolay Zheleznov, senior researcher of the Institute of Applied Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said some halos were even more eye-catching. "This was a regular halo and not the most spectacular type. It wasn’t a closed circle of halo," he said. "It is nothing but a play of light on ice crystals in cirrus clouds at an altitude of five to ten kilometres (three to six miles) above the ground."

However, local residents certainly seemed impressed by the way they took to social media to post their images and comments on the sight. There were also reports of the phenomenon appearing in other parts of Russia.

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