Eye on the sky - A sky lover's guide to thunderstorms

With a threat of some thunderstorms in the forecast, particularly in Ireland, we thought we would take this opportunity to create a visual guide of what you might spot in the sky tomorrow.

Cumulonimbus storm clouds erupt from smaller, fair-weather cumulus clouds, and even alone can produce some pretty spectacular structures.

Another type of cloud associated with thunderstorms, though more rare, are mammatus clouds. These are a child of cumulonimbus clouds and though seemingly ominous, could be indicative of both past or impending severe weather.

Keep your eyes peeled for an explainer piece on mammatus clouds tomorrow.

Whilst you won’t want to be in close proximity to lightning, given their dangerous nature, watching the sky light up safely from afar is a treat not to be missed.

Lightning is naturally more visible at night, but storms that develop at night tend to become ‘elevated’, meaning they form higher up in the atmosphere, where it is warmer than at the surface.

These elevated storms tend to be more intense as they create stronger downdrafts further from the surface.

As consequence, these storms tend to produce a greater number of cloud to ground lightning strikes, though tomorrow’s look to be more of a daytime feature.

But it’s not just menacing features to keep an eye out for during a thunderstorm; with the harshness of nature also comes raw beauty.

Rainbows often follow a spell of sunshine and showers, and form when sunlight is scattered through water droplets.

This light is then reflected and refracted, creating a rainbow as the light exits the droplets.

It’s not just sunshine that needs to be present, plenty of other conditions need to align, including the angle of the sun in the sky, the position of the sun in relation to the viewer, and of course the presence of water droplets.

So, keep your eyes on the sky tomorrow, especially if you're in Ireland! And don't forget to share your shots with us here.