On Twitter, the Met Office explained: “This is likely to be caused by the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, launched earlier today. The rocket’s frozen exhaust plume appears to be spinning in the atmosphere and reflecting the sunlight, causing it to appear as a spiral in the sky.”

A giant whirlpool of light, known as a "SpaceX spiral," was recently spotted swirling across the night sky over Europe as a Falcon 9 rocket prepared to reenter Earth's atmosphere after deploying top-secret cargo.