The Met Office has provided an explanation on a unique formation spotted over Nottinghamshire skies on Monday evening. The large thin looking formation was first noticed near Attenborough, from the A453, at around 9pm on Monday, May 22,
Paul Gregory, who saw the formation, had been out trying to spot a barn owl when he noticed the formation at around 9pm. He said he had not noticed anything prior to that point.
Now the Met Office has offered an explanation for the weather event. The national weather service said that while it is hard to tell from a single zoomed in picture, the image looks like it shows a contrail from an aircraft as the sun is setting.
What three words would you use to describe Nottinghamshire? Let us know
Contrails or condensation trails are frequently seen in the sky, and are created from water vapour coming out of an aircraft's engines. According to the Met Office, they are particularly common in empty skies in high-pressure situations when there are very few other clouds around.
The Met Office website said: "Aeroplane jet engines produce water vapour as a by-product of burning fuel. Above 20,000 feet, the air surrounding the aircraft is well below freezing so it cools down the water vapour coming out of the back of the engines. This causes the water vapour to condense rapidly, and then freeze.
"Tiny particles from the engine, known as condensation nuclei, act as a starting point for condensation to take place, leaving thin trails of ice crystals behind the aeroplane's engines. What happens next depends on how dry or how humid the air is. If the air is very dry, the ice crystals will sublime - change phase directly from solid to gas - and become invisible.
"If the air is humid, the water droplets or ice crystals will stay where they are, often spreading out, leaving a fluffy trail where the aircraft has passed. Trails may last for many hours leaving the sky crisscrossed with lines, and mixing with cirrus clouds."
Do you have any interesting weather videos from across Nottinghamshire? Send them to newsdesk@nottinghampost.com
READ NEXT:
Denise Welch shares update on son Matty Healy amid rumours of romance with Taylor Swift
Interactive map shows all the banks closing across Nottinghamshire
Gary Neville makes 'incredible' Nottingham Forest remark as they prove him wrong
ITV star Nadia Sawalha takes swipe at Phillip Schofield and hints he 'broke rule'
