Rare Noctilucent Clouds in London

Hello all,

Firstly im not sure if 'Fragile Earth' is the right forum to post this??


On 25th June 2012 at around 2:40am I looked out the window before I went to bed and noticed something glowing in the sky, I turned my lights off and looked out the window and see the clouds were glowing so I quickly grabbed my camera to take some shots. At first I thought it may of been the Moon behind the clouds but checked and the Moon was not in that part of the sky so what next came into my mind that it was either a UFO (reminded me of a scene from 'War of the Worlds' the version with Tom Cruise where the storm clouds throw down aliens.) but thought to myself no thats too far fetched or the Northern lights but there was no light movement. After some research I found out that they are Noctilucent clouds which are very rare clouds that are only witnessed during the summer months close to the North pole during twilight hours when the sun is just below the horizon.

Noctilucent clouds are composed of tiny crystals of water ice up to 100 nm in diameter and exist at a height of about 76 to 85 km (47 to 53 mi), higher than any other clouds in Earth's atmosphere. Clouds in the Earth's lower atmosphere form when water collects on particles, but mesospheric clouds may form directly from water vapour in addition to forming on dust particles. Some scientists say these clouds are witnessed further from the poles due to global warming but NASA disagree on this statement.

After a little more research I also read that sometimes these clouds form from volcanic eruptions.


I took over 20 different photo's between 2:45am and 3am using a Sony NEX 5 with a SEL 18-200mm lens and the SEL 16mm pancake lens. I took the photo's with the camera in night shot mode which made the whole landscape brighter then what it actually was with the naked eye. The photographs are raw straight from the SD card with no editing or tampering.

Here is a slideshow video of all the photo's:





Anyway I thought I would post this, as its something a bit different from the usual doom and gloom posted here and its something out of the ordinary to see this in London.

looks like breaks in the clouds showing blue sky to me, either the sun setting or rising but you say it's at around 3am so that can't be right. The horizon looks quite colourful as if it were sun setting/rising aswell although maybe it's light pollution. It just doesn't look like what you're saying it is to me sorry.

reply to post by justjoemusic


I don't know what the poster above me is on about. I don't see why you would lie. This would have been at least an hour and a half to two hours before sunrise so the night mode of the camera may have picked up some early dawn light that was starting to appear on the horizon but that wouldn't explain the electric blue noctilucent clouds higher up.

I think they are great photo's. Unusual to see them with the urban London landscape. Thanks for sharing

reply to post by LadyTrick


maybe you should read that he said his camera was in "night mode" and made it look brighter than it really was. sheesh. the photos are GREAT shots of some cool looking clouds. it's not like he's saying they are aliens..... just unusual clouds and pretty pictures.

i gave you a star and flag for the excellent photography and info on the clouds. really nice photos!

reply to post by LadyTrick


This was between 2:40am and 3am and I had to put the camera in night shot mode so it would pick it up on the camera.

reply to post by pasiphae


Thank you... its the first time ever that iv seen these type of clouds. Looked eerie with the naked eye.

Excellent! Definitely noctilucent clouds. I'm annoyed I forgot to look out last night ..... Never forget the first time I saw them. Haven't seen any yet this year - June is the best month to see them in Britain, though they can be sighted through to August. Best times are usually an hour or two after sunset or before sunrise.

Some other pictures taken in Norfolk here

reply to post by AndyMayhew


Wow those ones in Norfolk looked much better then the ones here in London. Thanks for posting them. I will definately be on the look out for more in the coming months if the UK weather sorts itself out

Radiation from Fukushima? Really cool looking whatever the cause.

The sky looks like that most of the time in london

reply to post by LDragonFire


No its not radiation, its just a rare glowing cloud that forms in the northern most hemisphere in places like Norway but sometimes you can catch them as far south as UK and USA.

The photo's look lighter and brighter then what it actually was as I had to use NIGHT SHOT mode on my Sony NEX 5 camera otherwise it would not of caught it clearly.

2:30am to 3am in London would not be pitch black darkness late June when looking out towards the horizon between sunset and sunrise.

It's only a few days after summer solstice so even it's still a couple of hours before sunrise it makes perfect sense to me as on cloudless or limited cloud coverage night this time of year the horizon between were the sun sets and rises would not be completely dark at any point during the "night" at this latitude.

As for the colour of the clouds this is due to the clouds being of very high altitude reflecting weak sunlight back to earth and is only ever visible when the sun is below the horizon from the point of view of the observer.

You can even see in the images the black silhouette of the odd low lying cloud in front of these lights. These clouds are too low and not bouncing any sunlight whilst the noctilucent clouds being right at the top of the atmosphere are bouncing some sunlight back to earth.

This image linked shows clearly how it works...

Why we see Noctilucent Clouds

Great pictures though OP

reply to post by justjoemusic


Sweet cloud pics! They look to be holding 2-4-5 Trioxin. Or poltergeists your pick.

Beautiful. Great captures. I am glad I am not the only one that watches the clouds day and night. Thanks for sharing.


reply to post by AndyMayhew


Gorgeous. Thank you.


reply to post by RealSpoke


That is one awesome twenty two seconds. Thank you.


reply to post by welshreduk




Really? Do beautiful things need all the lines and diagrams and this and that? Is not enough to revel in the acuity of sensation when witnessing the natural beauty of life?

Thats the SuPeR dope music in that vid that will replace the "strange noises" being heard in the sky on Dec 22nd when we wake up hung over from SHTF party and we have to go to work !

reply to post by justjoemusic

reply to post by LeTan


You bastard you beat me too it! I already had the meme uploading.. arrgg..

Kinda like the northern lights they see in places like Alaska. In a way. That was pretty neat to see. Thanks for those OP. Nice.