BusinessCrimeWeatherTech
news
Share icon

Share

“Very rare” stratospheric clouds expected to be visible over Ireland this week

Published 15:06 30 Dec 2019 GMT

Updated 14:50 31 Dec 2019 GMT

Rudi Kinsella
“Very rare” stratospheric clouds expected to be visible over Ireland this week

Homenews

This is something you won't want to miss.

Christmas is sadly coming to an end, but it's not all doom and gloom. The beginning of a new year (and decade) could mark the beginning of a new you. Plus, it might be nice to stop eating nothing but leftover turkey and chocolates throughout the day... But for now, we're still in a festive mode, and the weather reflects that. According to the Donegal Weather Channel, it will be cold enough over Ireland and the UK for polar stratospheric nacreous clouds to form.

These type of clouds form at an altitude of 15,000–25,000 meters (49,000–82,000 ft) and are are best observed during civil twilight (the period after sunset or before sunrise ending) when the sun is between one and six degrees below the horizon.

Take a look at an example of these types of clouds seen in Norway here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FH8Q2ezwNlE Clip via Steinar Midtskogen Pretty damn cool, right?

It is said that these clouds are "very rare" at these latitudes and can only be seen every few years.

Nacreous clouds are made with a mixture of supercooled water, ice crystals and nitric acid. And like we said, they look class. Here's hoping we get to see some.

Explore more on these topics:

clouds

Weather

"Very rare" stratospheric clouds expected to be visible over Ireland this week