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
Wildfires break out amid ongoing drought. Water restrictions active. . . Tuesday 14 July 2026
Smoke rising from a scorched moorland hillside after a wildfire, with blackened vegetation, smouldering ground, and drifting gray smoke covering the burned landscape.
Tuesday 14 July 2026

Water restrictions active

Wildfires break out amid ongoing drought
The monsoon has India firmly in its grip. Severe thunderstorms. . . Thursday 9 July 2026
Satellite map of South Asia showing the weather situation over India. An arrow marks a low-pressure system over western and central India, which is causing heavy showers and thunderstorms. Thick clouds and rainfall extend across large parts of India as far as the Himalayas and into Bangladesh. Over Pakistan and south-eastern Iran, however, it is mainly sunny and hot, with temperatures exceeding 40 degrees.
Thursday 9 July 2026

Severe thunderstorms

The monsoon has India firmly in its grip
Severe weather spreads across Europe. Lightning, hail, gales. . . Wednesday 15 July 2026
Split image showing a dramatic supercell thunderstorm with dark rotating clouds over open countryside on the left, and a severe thunderstorm warning map on the right highlightning elevated storm risk across parts of central Europe, including northern Italy, Switzerland, eastern France, and southern Germany.
Wednesday 15 July 2026

Lightning, hail, gales

Severe weather spreads across Europe
All weather news
This might also interest you
New records for England and Wales. Broken again tomorrow?. . . Thursday 25 June 2026
Temperature map of southwest Britain on 25.06 showing extreme heat across southern Wales and southwest England, with Bute Park in Cardiff highlighted at 34.2°C and Yeovilton at 36.4°C amid widespread deep red heat zones.
Thursday 25 June 2026

Broken again tomorrow?

New records for England and Wales
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
Flooding, gales, and heavy snow. Storm Chandra. . . Tuesday 27 January 2026
Split image showing aerial flooding in a town with muddy water covering roads on the left, and a rural road on the right blocked by heavy snowfall with vans stopped and a person walking in snow.
Tuesday 27 January 2026

Storm Chandra

Flooding, gales, and heavy snow
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