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
Heat-health alerts ahead of heatwave. Across England. . . Tuesday 7 July 2026
Temperature map of the UK and western Europe showing hot conditions across Britain, with temperatures reaching 33°C near London, 29°C around Cardiff, 24°C near Liverpool, and a large heat warning symbol highlighting elevated heat risk.
Tuesday 7 July 2026

Across England

Heat-health alerts ahead of heatwave
Cooler nights and lower dew points. Less oppressive heatwave. . . Thursday 9 July 2026
Split image showing the London skyline in hazy golden sunset light in the left and an overnight temperature map of the UK and Ireland on the right, with minimum temperatures ranging from 13°C in northeast Scotland to 18°C in southern England.
Thursday 9 July 2026

Less oppressive heatwave

Cooler nights and lower dew points
Yet another typhoon in the Pacific. Gusts of over 185 mph. . . Friday 3 July 2026
Wind forecast map of the western Pacific showing a powerful typhoon east of Guam with a well-defined eye, strong wind circulation, and a windsock warning icon.
Friday 3 July 2026

Gusts of over 185 mph

Yet another typhoon in the Pacific
All weather news
This might also interest you
Bright and warm conditions take hold. Spring-like outlook. . . Thursday 23 April 2026
Split UK map showing warm temperatures up to 21 degrees in orange on the left and clear sunny conditions with temperatures from 12 to 18 degrees on the right, with sun icons across the country.
Thursday 23 April 2026

Spring-like outlook

Bright and warm conditions take hold
Storm Chandra makes impact. Severe gales & heavy rain. . . Tuesday 27 January 2026
Split image showing strong winds over the UK on a forecast map and widespread rain and snow on a weather radar map.
Tuesday 27 January 2026

Severe gales & heavy rain

Storm Chandra makes impact
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