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
Autumn colours and aurora displays. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 18 October 2026
Split image showing an orange coastal sunset over a winding tidal stream and jagged rocks beside purple northern lights above houses at night.
Sunday 18 October 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Autumn colours and aurora displays
Former hurricane to record storm. Isaias affecting Europe. . . Wednesday 14 October 2026
WindRadar shows a powerful storm system south-west of Iceland. Red and purple colours indicate extreme wind speeds. Arrows show the direction of rotation, whilst a windsock symbol warns of a storm.
Wednesday 14 October 2026

Isaias affecting Europe

Former hurricane to record storm
Both chilly and mild overnight. Temperature split. . . Thursday 15 October 2026
Temperature map showing 4°C near Aberdeen, 7°C in Dublin, 10°C in Liverpool, and 15°C in London, with blue and red thermometer symbols indicating cold and mild areas.
Thursday 15 October 2026

Temperature split

Both chilly and mild overnight
All weather news
This might also interest you
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
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
Seasonal warmth between spring thunder. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 19 April 2026
Split image showing coastal sunset with layered lenticular clouds over rooftops and palm trees on the left, and a green valley with river and hills under soft daylight on the right.
Sunday 19 April 2026

Your weather - Your shots

Seasonal warmth between spring thunder
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