Incredible pictures of salmon leaping in Durham river have been captured by photographers over the last few days.

The natural phenomenon is rare to see and only happens in early autumn. 

Atlantic salmon will be swimming upstream to lay their eggs. 

The salmon make depressions in the bottom of the river and deposit their eggs there.

They will then be fertilised by any male salmon in the area .

Michelle Humphrey was waiting for her son to finish sixth form and walked along the riverside path searching for a glimpse of salmon.

She said: "My brother had spotted them on the previous weekend and mentioned it.

"I started to record on my iPhone after seeing a flash on the wear, I watched for a good 20 minutes and managed to get these pictures from my video recording.

"It’s a magical thing to watch and it’s great that it’s on the doorstep."

Watch video of the salmon leaping in Durham here:

Here are some pictures of the natural phenomenon:

(Image: Simon Summers) (Image: Michelle Humphrey) (Image: Michelle Humphrey) (Image: Michelle Humphrey)Don’t miss out on the latest news and stories. Subscribe to the Northern Echo by clicking here

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Early morning and late afternoon are the best time to see salmon leaping and it's best to watch at bottlenecks like the weir in Durham.

Some salmon have been known to leap up to 3m into the air in the right conditions.

The salmon run is absolutely fraught with danger for the fish and only an estimated 10 per cent survive the trial.