Rare ‘rainbow clouds’ appear over the north of Scotland

These rare ‘rainbow clouds’ have been making an appearance across the UK for the past couple of days. They are Nacreous clouds which form in -80C air with tiny ice crystals that refract the sunlight. Also known as the Mother of Pearl or Polar Stratospheric Clouds. It was like an oil spill in the sky! One of the most unique things in nature I’ve ever seen.

Captured by Joshua Earle in Nairn, Scotland at approximately 9:00am on December 24th

Also known as Mother of Pearl, or Polar Stratospheric clouds, this natural phenomenon is caused by high arctic clouds that contain ice crystals that refract the sunlight. There’s lots of interesting facts online about them if you’re interested to find out more. I’m not entirely sure why they suddenly appeared so vividly and frequently this week, but it does sound like it’s not actually great news for the environment as “the ice crystals contribute to the depletion of the ozone layer due to a reaction they promote between molecular oxygen and other gases in the stratosphere such as chlorine and bromine.” Incredibly beautiful but with a darker side!