Nacreous clouds
Stratospheric temperatures have reached a minimum today over the British Isles for this winter, with forecasts of around -80 to -85 Celsius over Northern Scotland, which is just cold enough for Type II Polar Stratospheric Clouds (Nacreous Clouds) to form. This has been well forecast for the last 3 weeks, so I've been looking forward to this weekend, and the opportunity to catch these relatively rare and beautiful clouds. The other ingredient needed was strong winds in the lower troposphere, which produce waves or ripples all the way up through the troposphere and stratosphere, leading to the spectacular lenticular forms of these pearlescent clouds. These shots were taken on the forest road between Bennachie and Millstone hill, luckily the clouds broke just in time to reveal these beautiful clouds.
Nacreous clouds
Stratospheric temperatures have reached a minimum today over the British Isles for this winter, with forecasts of around -80 to -85 Celsius over Northern Scotland, which is just cold enough for Type II Polar Stratospheric Clouds (Nacreous Clouds) to form. This has been well forecast for the last 3 weeks, so I've been looking forward to this weekend, and the opportunity to catch these relatively rare and beautiful clouds. The other ingredient needed was strong winds in the lower troposphere, which produce waves or ripples all the way up through the troposphere and stratosphere, leading to the spectacular lenticular forms of these pearlescent clouds. These shots were taken on the forest road between Bennachie and Millstone hill, luckily the clouds broke just in time to reveal these beautiful clouds.