Stunning multicoloured clouds brighten U.K.'s dreary skies

Wednesday, February 3, 2016, 11:22 AM - Residents across the U.K. woke up to a colourful spectacle Wednesday morning.

Stunning nacreous clouds glided across the skies in parts of England, Scotland, and Ireland since the start of the month, encouraging many people to snap a shot of the unusual sight.

On Tuesday the U.K. Met Office shared a images and a statement about the “mother of pearl” clouds.

The Met Office notes that nacreous clouds form in below -78 C temperatures, when the sun is just below the horizon -- so they’re most likely to occur during the polar winter.

@robertclarkphoto A beautiful rare occurrence happened as I was #onassingment for @Natgeo. I was boarding a plane from #Edinburgh back to my home in Brooklyn and I witnessed a phenomenal light show. The hurricane force winds in the British Isles (90 mph+) has forced a huge amount of #icecrystals into the air, these are known as #nacreousclouds.

A photo posted by National Geographic (@natgeo) on Feb 2, 2016 at 1:04pm PST

As for their beautiful colours? The Met Office says that because nacreous clouds are illuminated from below, they shine with stunning hues.

Beautiful display of Polar Stratospheric Clouds over Edinburgh this morning. Also known as Nacreous or Mother of Pearl clouds. They can be caused when high winds on the surface cause ripples high up in the Stratosphere, and it was certainly a bit breezy last night!

A photo posted by Peter Urwin (@pete_urwin) on Feb 2, 2016 at 2:06am PST

"Currently, we are able to catch sight of them because cold air which usually circulates around polar regions in the stratosphere (the stratospheric polar vortex) has been displaced from its usual position over the north pole to be over the UK," a Met Office spokesperson told Mashable.

"Our weather forecast models indicate the cold polar vortex will remain nearby for the next few days, so we should be able to see Nacreous Clouds when the skies are clear. The position of the vortex shifts towards the end of the week taking the coldest air, and the Nacreous Clouds, away from above the UK."

Managed to capture some rare nacreous clouds over Birmingham this afternoon. Did anyone catch a glimpse?? #Birmingham #nacreousclouds #ukweather #bbcweather

A photo posted by Tim Cornbill (@timcornbill) on Feb 2, 2016 at 10:42am PST

These clouds are most likely to be seen during the civil twilight, when the sun is approximately 1 and 6 degrees below the horizon, the Met Office notes in their statement. They’re also most likely to be seen at higher latitudes such as Scandinavia and northern Canada.

Spotted over Ireland this morning. It was really beautiful. _ Sorry for the quality, it was taken through my dirty windscreen. _____________________________ #motherofpearl #nacreousclouds #nacreous #sunrise #cloudporn #cloudstagram #skyporn #skylovers #skyonfire #rainbowcloud #stratosphericpolarclouds #ireland #pretty #instasky #instaclouds #europe #beautiful #iphonesia #iphoneography

A photo posted by Ellen (@elleninnit) on Feb 2, 2016 at 4:48am PST

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SOURCE: Met Office | Mashable