How far south could you see them?they photos are all from Scotland, northern Ireland, isle of man, northern England and Lincolnshire which I suppose is considered the east Midlands? It has resulted in a nacreous-cloud bonanza for British and Irish cloudspotters. The clouds are usually seen over Norway and other polar regions, when the sun is just below the horizon. VideoAvoiding war in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, Subway bread rolls not bread, Irish court rules, Gavin the paddleboarding seal becomes local celebrity. Storm Henry and its predecessor Storm Gertrude had the effect of destabilising the stratospheric polar vortex sufficiently for it to be above us in the UK.

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/fza77.htm Even managing to watch them till the colour disappeared for the bonus points! But, true to his gentlemanly name, he’s provided something spectacular as well: Nacreous clouds. And, Les, the correlation with ozone layer depletion you showed on your Optics Picture of the Day is striking. Pictures at:

But particularly low temperatures in the stratosphere over the UK have caused the perfect conditions for nacreous clouds. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Cold stratospheric air that usually circulates around polar regions, known as the ‘stratospheric polar vortex’, has recently been displaced southwards to extend over the parts of the UK.
The formations are also known as ‘mother of pearl clouds’ due to their beautiful bands of colour, which appear as the cloud’s ice crystals diffract the sunlight, separating it into its different wavelengths.

Officially known as polar stratospheric clouds, nacreous are typically only observed close to polar regions. "Here in Scotland, the recent storms have probably helped too, with strong winds driving moisture up into the stratosphere. Playboy goes from private to public in new venture, Texas governor cuts back on voting locations weeks before election, Delphine Boël: Belgium ex-king's love child wins royal titles, Archie Lyndhurst: CBBC star and son of Nicholas Lyndhurst dies aged 19, Peter Webster: The 80-year-old footballer preparing to retire. Video, C$1m cash seized in 'illegal casino' mansion raid, The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image. Sometimes known as mother of pearl clouds for their distinct appearance, nacreous clouds are laced with vivid iridescent light from below the horizon. .css-gw44ni-IconContainer{display:inline-block;height:1em;width:1em;vertical-align:-0.125em;margin-right:0.25em;}playCan you trust US polls? I’d been reading the article Respite from the Storms and it reminded me of the walk I had a couple of days ago (Wed 3 Feb 2016) at Embleton. One main type of PSC is made up mostly of supercooled droplets of water and nitric acid and is implicated in the … On 16th February 1996 we in Britain were treated to a spectacular display of nacreous clouds - sufficiently attention grabbing to make the national news.

Many fantastic photographs from this sighting have been added to the gallery. They are best observed during civil twilight, when the Sun is between 1 and 6 degrees below the horizon, as well as in winter and in more northerly latitudes. BBC Scotland weather presenter Christopher Blanchett said the effects of storms Gertrude and Henry may have heightened the chances of seeing the clouds. Please accept our new Terms & Conditions before contributing to our Community Pages. Video, Gavin the paddleboarding seal becomes local celebrity, Trump in quarantine as top aide Hope Hicks tests positive for coronavirus, Trump condemns all white supremacists after Proud Boys row, Chinese vlogger dies after 'set on fire by ex during live stream', MP Margaret Ferrier's Covid Parliament trip 'indefensible'. I was lucky to glimpse them through a gap in the cumulus near sunset but they were unmistakable! Read about our approach to external linking. Kevan, The clouds are illuminated from below and often glow in vivid colours and will often remain visible for a couple of hours after sunset and through the night as they are lit by moonlight. While iridescent colours are seen in many cloud formations, they tend to look much more dramatic in nacreous formations because this cloud’s tiny ice crystals are very regular in size. Here, birds fly near Whitley Bay in Northumberland, below the nacreous clouds on the coastline. VideoChina’s robot taxis, C$1m cash seized in 'illegal casino' mansion raid. The water droplets which form nacreous clouds are much smaller than those forming more common clouds. Cloud porn (Picture: PA) Storm Henry has brought 90mph winds, travel disruption and misery to the UK. I saw them for about an hour after local sunset, waiting for it to go dark (latitude 54 N), but it proved too windy for … The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites.
There were some sightings around Cambridge on our social media channels, but I’ve heard of none south of there. VideoGavin the paddleboarding seal becomes local celebrity, .css-orcmk8-HeadlineContainer{display:-webkit-box;display:-webkit-flex;display:-ms-flexbox;display:flex;-webkit-box-pack:justify;-webkit-justify-content:space-between;-ms-flex-pack:justify;justify-content:space-between;}Trump in quarantine as top aide Hope Hicks tests positive for coronavirus.css-1dedj2h-Rank{-webkit-align-self:center;-ms-flex-item-align:center;align-self:center;color:#B80000;margin-left:3.125rem;}1, Trump condemns all white supremacists after Proud Boys row2, Chinese vlogger dies after 'set on fire by ex during live stream'3, MP Margaret Ferrier's Covid Parliament trip 'indefensible'4, US election 2020 polls: Who is ahead - Trump or Biden?5, Playboy goes from private to public in new venture6, Texas governor cuts back on voting locations weeks before election7, Delphine Boël: Belgium ex-king's love child wins royal titles8, Archie Lyndhurst: CBBC star and son of Nicholas Lyndhurst dies aged 199, Peter Webster: The 80-year-old footballer preparing to retire10. The Met Office explains nacreous clouds as follows: “Nacreous clouds form in the lower stratosphere over polar regions when the sun is just below the horizon. "Their colour comes from ice crystals refracting the sun's rays to give the rainbow effect. The Atlantic storm Henry that passed over Scotland on the 1st and 2nd of February might have contributed to lifting the moisture for these displays. "The position of the vortex shifts towards the end of the week taking the coldest air, and the Nacreous Clouds, away from above the UK." The clouds have been visible in the past few days over parts of the UK. Cold stratospheric air that usually circulates around polar regions, known as the ‘stratospheric polar vortex’, has recently been displaced southwards to extend over the parts of the UK. They're sometimes referred to as 'mother of pearl' clouds or otherwise known as polar stratospheric clouds. [All images © Peter Slater 2016 – used with permission]. Most clouds that we see in the sky form in what is called the troposphere (the layer of the earth’s atmosphere where most of the weather that we experience occurs), but nacreous clouds form much higher up in the stratosphere (at around 20 km). This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Any content you contribute will be publicly visible.

The smaller droplets scatter light in a different way which is what creates the distinctive luminescent appearance. Any from southern England? VideoC$1m cash seized in 'illegal casino' mansion raid, Millions on the move in post-lockdown China, The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image. Another rare type of cloud called noctilucent clouds (meaning night-shining) form even higher up in the mesosphere and can occasionally be seen from here around mid-summer. I saw them from Baldock in North Herts, just south of Cambridge and posted a couple of photos. ", He added: "They're most vivid before dawn and after sunset, as they're in sunlight longer due to their altitude. Nacreous Clouds . Image copyright Michael Gibson Image caption Nacreous clouds seen from Aberdeen in a picture taken by Michael Gibson XHTML: You can use these tags:
, © Video, The voice of Johnson and Trump on Spitting Image, Avoiding war in the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict. "Usually it is far too dry at this height for clouds to form, but during the polar winter the temperature can drop low enough to promote the cloud's development. VideoCan you trust US polls? Many fantastic … They are so high that, if you were in a plane at normal cruising height, you would have to look UP to see them! I’ll be mentioning those in a Night Sky article in a future edition of Cheviot Views newsletter. I saw some last week in South Hampshire in the New Forest. (Met Office, UK). Nacreous clouds form below -78 °C temperatures and so are most likely to occur during the polar winter. Interestingly, there have been lots of sightings from around the UK of rare nacreous clouds and we had them here too. A dog walker on the east coast near Whitley Bay, Northumberland, as rare Nacreous clouds form over the coastline. Unfortunately I did not have camera with me. "These eye-catching rainbow coloured clouds form in the Earth's stratosphere at around 70,000ft, way above where other clouds are normally found and in much colder air, around -78C.

Les, I saw some over Worcester but they were much paler than many photos I’ve seen.