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Nacreous clouds

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 skog 29 Jan 2016
Did anyone else see the nacreous clouds this morning?

We caught glimpses of them this morning from Stirling, shining brightly through gaps behind the lower cloud, off to our North East, but didn't get the chance to take a photo - a shame, as they were really quite spectacular.

It seems they were a lot clearer further NE, though:
https://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/fp/news/aberdeenshire/819462/watch-mesmer...

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/readers-pictures-of-this-mor...
 malk 29 Jan 2016
In reply to skog:
aka http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_iridescence
could have been the wind breaking up the ice crystals?
i've seen it before but not today- i did see a fine double rainbow though
Post edited at 16:08
OP skog 29 Jan 2016
In reply to malk:

It was like iridescent clouds on steroids!

I've seen the fairly often, and they're lovely, but this was more vivid, and much brighter.

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/nacr1.htm
 Mal Grey 29 Jan 2016
In reply to skog:

Spectacular stuff, never seen it.

I love the fact that the Press and Journal had clearly lifted much of their text straight from that atoptics website, without even the slightest attempt to re-write it.

OP skog 29 Jan 2016
In reply to Mal Grey:

> Spectacular stuff, never seen it.

When I was at uni in Edinburgh, one morning I got into the lab to find everyone talking about the amazing display of nacreous clouds which had filled the sky the previous night. I had had no idea.

> I love the fact that the Press and Journal had clearly lifted much of their text straight from that atoptics website, without even the slightest attempt to re-write it.

Aye, I noticed that!
 sbc_10 29 Jan 2016
In reply to malk:

They look like Nacreous to me. I've seen them a few times at polar latitudes and they can take this form, it seems similar to Lenticular clouds.
 sbc_10 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

It's Monday morning, I'm in Yorkshire and there is something suspiciously like Nacreos clouds over to the South East !! Anybody see anything ??
 Bob Aitken 01 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

Thanks for the prompt - glimpses from Edinburgh just after 8a.m., ribs of luminous mother of pearl fleetingly seen through the gunmetal-grey lower-level squall clouds.
OP skog 01 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

I didn't see anything this morning.

There might be a chance this evening or tomorrow morning - the forecast here's for a storm, but with broken cloud. It's probably hoping for a bit much, but who knows?
OP skog 01 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

Googling for nacreous clouds, in the last 24 hours, gives me this, from a little North of you:

http://www.northumberlandgazette.co.uk/news/rare-clouds-over-northumberland...
 Bob Aitken 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Another fine show between the squall clouds from Edinburgh, right now.
OP skog 01 Feb 2016
In reply to Bob Aitken:

Same from Bannockburn!

Think I've caught some photos this time, too.
 quirky 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Marvellous one in Blackburn Lancs at the mo
OP skog 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

It was much brighter than it came out in my photo, but here:

http://www.ootnaboot.scot/winter2015-6/20160201Nacreous_Clouds.jpg

It's still going, but the colours are much more red/purple as the sun sets.
 somethingelse 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Just seen these in Chester with the sunset, fantastic!
 sbc_10 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

This is one I got this morning from Harrogate .... camera struggles to bring the colours out.

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=122333&PHPSES...
 tspoon1981 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

A stunning display in Aberdeen, it's a shame I didn't have a camera to take some pictures.
 Anti-faff 01 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Great display over Teesside this evening, never seen them before. Fantastic.
 sbc_10 01 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

Here is another one this morning. Taken whilst wearing only a bath towel in the garden.... Hey ! one of natures great spectacles..... ;0)

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=122353&PHPSES...
In reply to skog:
There was a good display this evening over Gillies Hill in Stirling - posted a picture on the Save Gillies Hill website.
 sbc_10 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

More sightings this morning from Harrogate. We are being spoilt.
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
More right now, from Bannockburn, in the East sky!
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

It's a remarkable run of them, aye!
 sbc_10 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Nice.
 graeme jackson 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:



> It's really hard to capture the colours in a snap!

I was watching those on the drive in to Edinburgh from Lanark this morning. truly beautiful.
 Dave Todd 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Spotted one this morning from my back garden in Sheffield (S7) at about 7:45. Just a brief glimpse before the lower clouds filled the gaps, very exciting though! (I'd never seen one before, and I like clouds...a lot)
 aln 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

I'm a big cloud fan and I'd never heard of these till I read this thread. Now they're everywhere! Saw them this morning looking S from Falkirk.
 sbc_10 02 Feb 2016
In reply to aln:

> Now they're everywhere!

It would be interesting to hear from our correspondents North of the border on how 'rare' these clouds are. I read somewhere that the last good sightings from England were in 1995 and 2000. Has Scotland had more due to it's higher latitude ?
I suppose it depends on how observant folk are and if they can differentiate between PSC's, NLC's, iridescence and the Northern lights!!.. ...it can be a bit confusing....
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

I don't think I've seen them before, despite keeping an eye open for such things. If I have, it has been glimpses of much less impressive displays than these ones.

Scotland will doubtless get them more often than England, being further North and having more hills, but I think they're still pretty rare here. And I imagine they're often hidden above other cloud layers when we do get them, too.

I wonder whether we'll see more this evening? The main storm has passed, but it still looks like it'll be quite windy, with broken cloud. Less likely, but probably still worth checking, I think.

Oh - we might have to slop on the sun cream now, apparently:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2006/aug/03/science.climatechange
 Mike-W-99 02 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

Seen them a few times before but this has been the most consistent and longest lasting show. I dont think hilly terrain has much to do with their formation as they are really high up in the atmosphere (plus east lothian has nothing very hilly!)
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to Mike-W-99:

http://www.atoptics.co.uk/highsky/nacr1.htm says

"They can be less rare downwind of mountain ranges"

I don't know whether our hills are big enough to matter.
 Bob Aitken 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

I've seen nacreous clouds just once before, from Edinburgh about 15 years ago, and as far as I can remember that was a one-off, they showed just one morning. But I suspect that (like 'glories' in the hills) once you know when and in what conditions they may appear, and are looking out for them, you may see them more often than previously expected.

And happily, as with aurora, the internet has vastly improved our chances of getting advance warning and sharing sightings. I've seen far more aurora in the past ten years than in the previous 40 years put together.
cap'nChino 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

We had some our way last night. Lasted around 30 minutes. Looked amazing, sadly all of the photos I took were slightly over exposed and looked far better on the camera screen than on monitor.
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to Bob Aitken:
> And happily, as with aurora, the internet has vastly improved our chances of getting advance warning and sharing sightings.

This is very true - that, and it increases awareness of the best conditions for seeing interesting phenomena, and even just of what there is to see.
Post edited at 11:05
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to cap'nChino:

> the photos I took were slightly over exposed and looked far better on the camera screen than on monitor

Most of mine, too. I'm tempted to take photos of the photos on my camera screen and see what happens.
 pass and peak 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Good long lasting display over Northumberland this morning, difficult to take picture's as there's nothing for the camera to get a focus on, unless you know what your doing of course, which I don't!
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

A friend tells me they're visible over Dundee again now.

I can't see them from Bannockburn - it's cloudy to the East just now.
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
One wee one. And a sleet or snow shower sweeping in - that may be that, here!
 sbc_10 02 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Taken this morning from my Polar Stratospheric Laboratory..... A.K.A... the garden.

http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=122437
OP skog 02 Feb 2016
In reply to sbc_10:

That's a great one!
 Billhook 03 Feb 2016
In reply to skog:

Absolute stunning displays in this corner of NE Yorkshire for the last few days am & pm
 malk 03 Feb 2016
In reply to cap'nChino:
> We had some our way last night. Lasted around 30 minutes. Looked amazing, sadly all of the photos I took were slightly over exposed and looked far better on the camera screen than on monitor.

try auto-levels or picassa boost..
http://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1568/24776801465_ce8990b5d0_h.jpg
http://c2.staticflickr.com/2/1701/24683329651_84109f0158_h.jpg
Post edited at 13:48
cap'nChino 03 Feb 2016
In reply to malk:

Will do. Thank you.

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