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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
David Batty

Rare nacreous clouds spotted over Scotland and England

Nacreous clouds with a chimney in the foreground
Nacreous clouds over Edinburgh on Tuesday. The effect is produced as the sunlight diffracts around the tiny ice crystals inside the clouds. Photograph: Tom Duffin/Solent News & Photo Agency/Solent News

Weather watchers have captured images of rare iridescent clouds over Scotland, northern England and the West Midlands, with some people likening them to UFOs.

Nacreous clouds, which resemble mother of pearl, usually develop in extremely cold air above the polar regions, but were spotted on Tuesday over Edinburgh, Fife, Staffordshire, Merseyside, Lincolnshire and Cheshire.

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