Home
Weather Dublin
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Noctilucent clouds: Season of the shimmering clouds

07:00
15 June 2024

Noctilucent clouds
Season of the shimmering clouds

Noctilucent clouds
Noctilucent clouds shine in the night sky over Tynemouth Priory and Castle in North Shields. - © picture alliance

Bright, shimmering noctilucent clouds illuminate the skies each year, with a season spanning from June to August.

Known as noctilucent clouds, these rare clouds form around 50 miles above Earth's surface in the mesosphere during summer months.

The unusual display of blue and silver ribbon clouds can keep the evening sky bright hours after the Sun has set.

It is not known for sure how these clouds form, although we know that they shine thanks to the Sun's light illuminating ice crystals from beyond the horizon.

Changing names

These clouds are known as noctilucent clouds on the ground, but when viewed from space become polar mesospheric clouds.

These crystals reflect the light onto dust particles in the mesosphere, where temperatures reach -134°C.

Best viewed when the Sun has just set below the horizon, 90 minutes after sunset, the clouds are most likely to appear between June and August for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere.

If you spot any bright, shining clouds at night in the coming months, show them off via the uploader and dodge any poor weather with the WeatherRadar!

Make the most of your WeatherRadarread more
Ryan Hathaway
More on the topic
Weather contrasts over Europe. Low versus high. . . Tuesday 29 September 2026
A powerful low-pressure system off Iceland is clashing with a stable high-pressure system over Scandinavia. Central Europe lies between them.
Tuesday 29 September 2026

Low versus high

Weather contrasts over Europe
Sunset views mark the start of the month. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 4 October 2026
Split image showing offshore wind turbines beneath a pink-purple sky and a fiery red-orange sunset above silhouetted rooftops.
Sunday 4 October 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Sunset views mark the start of the month
Hurricane Polo is heading for Mexico. Severe weather risk. . . Monday 28 September 2026
Wind map showing an intense tropical cyclone southwest of Baja California, with an arrow toward the peninsula and flood and strong wind warning symbols.
Monday 28 September 2026

Severe weather risk

Hurricane Polo is heading for Mexico
All weather news
This might also interest you
Long-term trends need a pinch of salt. 40 °C in July?. . . Tuesday 30 June 2026
Temperature radar of 2022 heatwave where the all-time temperature record in the UK was set. Warning symbol overlain.
Tuesday 30 June 2026

40 °C in July?

Long-term trends need a pinch of salt
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan. Up to 1,000 mm of rain. . Weather Videos. Wednesday 8 July 2026
The image shows an intense tropical cyclone over the western Pacific, east of Taiwan and the Philippines. The centre of the system is depicted as a light purple and white vortex with a clearly visible eye, surrounded by a ring of red and orange areas indicating the strongest wind speeds. A white arrow marks the typhoon’s predicted track towards the north-west, in the direction of Taiwan. To the west of the storm lie the Philippines, with the cities of Manila and Cebu; to the north of these lies Taiwan, with Taipei. Further west, the Chinese coast, including Hong Kong, and parts of Vietnam can be seen. The coloured wind map shows predominantly green areas outside the storm’s core, indicating significantly weaker winds. White streamlines illustrate the typhoon’s anti-clockwise circulation in the Northern Hemisphere. The highest wind speeds are concentrated around the eye of the cyclone.
Weather VideosWednesday 8 July 2026

Up to 1,000 mm of rain

Super Typhoon Bavi threatens Taiwan
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwitteryouTubelinkList