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
Spring records for England & Wales. Above-average warmth. . . Tuesday 2 June 2026
Split graphic showing a European temperatures anomaly map on the left with widespread warmer-than-average conditions, and a UK and Ireland heat map on the right displaying intense heat with temperatures exceeding 30 °C.
Tuesday 2 June 2026

Above-average warmth

Spring records for England & Wales
Solstice kicks off the summer season. June astronomy outlook. . . Thursday 4 June 2026
Silhouette of a person sitting beside a telescope on a tripod under a clear night sky filled with dense stars and the bright band of the Milky Way.
Thursday 4 June 2026

June astronomy outlook

Solstice kicks off the summer season
Warmer in Lapland than it is here. Arctic Circle sees 25 °C. . . Thursday 4 June 2026
On the left is the Temperature Radar for Europe; on the right is a picture of a lake in Finland surrounded by woodland.
Thursday 4 June 2026

Arctic Circle sees 25 °C

Warmer in Lapland than it is here
All weather news
This might also interest you
Historic Storm Éowyn arrives. On this day.... . . Saturday 24 January 2026
Split image showing a person in a yellow jacket struggling against strong winds and heavy rain on a street at night on the left, and an Irish wind forecast map on the right with red and purple shading, gusts up to 75 mph, and a wind warning icon, divided by a curved white line.
Saturday 24 January 2026

On this day...

Historic Storm Éowyn arrives
Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands. Storm and rain. . . Friday 12 December 2025
Weather graphic showing rain and wind fields over the Canary Islands and a central warning symbol.
Friday 12 December 2025

Storm and rain

Turbulent weather in the Canary Islands
Wishes from Weather & Radar. Merry Christmas!. . . Thursday 25 December 2025
Outline of Santa Claus with a yellow and white hat, "Ho-Ho-Ho" next to the outline above a Christmas tree.
Thursday 25 December 2025

Merry Christmas!

Wishes from Weather & Radar
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