Photo: Stephen Jaquiery
MetService meteorologist Tui McInnes said the spectacle was created by the way light travelled through the atmosphere in the morning.
Because a front was approaching the far south, there was more water vapour in the atmosphere.
That meant blue light was more scattered and the red spectrum of visible light became more dominant.
''In the case of the impressive sunrise ... it was really just the fortunate coincidence of the timing of that front and a nice, low angle of the sun as it came over the Pacific Ocean,'' Mr McInnes said.
