What with all the rain we've been having in europe, hearing of heatwave's in the USA and flooding in Russia & Japan, it's becoming a touch worrying with all these "unprecidented" weather events.

Here is another - a photo of a streaked/banded sunset I witness ed from my garden here in the UK at sunset, this evening 18/7/2012 (aprox 21:05 uk time/16:05 EST)

Has anyone else seen this sort of thing, or can shed any light on what has caused it?

Hey gazpodel,

Sorry it took so long for someone to answer you're query.

These are called Crepuscular Rays. (Aka "God Rays".)

I've seen them many times in differing forms. In my opinion, they're most spectaularly when coming through an opening in the clouds, which I refer to as a "Sky Eye". My avatar has such an image.

Here's a link that should be of some help in defining them and how they're formed:

www.atoptics.co.uk/atoptics/rayform.htm