Photos: Social media lights up with intense blood red Wellington sunset on tail end of Cyclone Hola

Wellington was last night bathed in an intense blood red sunset, enhanced by departing storms shifting across the North Island from ex-Cyclone Hola.

Residents in the capital last night took to social media to post images of dramatic sunsets in a variety of red and pink hues.

The colorful display was an added pleasure, after ex-Cyclone Hola just sideswiped the country, with the worst of the remaining storms hitting off the New Zealand coast.

Stronger red coloured sunsets ofter occur following severe weather systems because the slanting band of clouds on the tail end of storms act as a projector for the long wavelength light colours of orange and red light. 

If there is thin cloud cover, the red orange light will be reflected at an enhanced intensity to the earth.