Rainbow clouds spotted last night over Formby

The rare clouds known as 'Nacreous' or 'Mother of pearl' clouds were over our Bubble last night - Monday 1st February.

Nacreous clouds far outshine and have much more vivid colours than ordinary iridescent clouds. These nacreous clouds give off an array of pastel colours and are formed high up in the atmosphere, at heights of between 15km to 25km. They exhibit spectacular iridescent pastel colours, caused by the sunlight diffracting as it passes around their tiny ice crystals.

Once seen they are never forgotten. These clouds are rare, yet they have been frequently sighted in the past few days. A “stratospheric cloud event” is underway.

Since they form much higher than common clouds - at altitudes of between 12 and 15 miles - nacreous clouds are most apparent around sunrise and sunset when their colours stand out against the darkened sky. The stratosphere is extremely dry, compared with the cloud-filled lower atmosphere, so the air needs to be very cold indeed for any ice crystals to be able to form there.

Here are some photos from yesterday in Formby sent in by members of the public. Thankyou for all your pics.

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Amanda Ann Lukic

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Cathy Smith

Nacreous clouds on 01.02.16 - Photo sent in by Tracy Buxton

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Sara Lewis

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Ian Bradley

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Cathy Smith

Photo by Formby Bubble

Photo by Formby Bubble

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Meg Crewdson

Nacreous clouds over Formby 01.02.16 - Photo by Cathy Smith