Noctilucent Night Clouds Make Sheffield's Midnight Look Like Sunset

Written By

Aditya Singh

The photo may look like an ordinary sunset in Sheffield, but it was taken at 2 a.m.

Many photographers captured stunning photos of an "extremely rare" weather event last night.

Phenomenon that lit up Sheffield’s sky is known as noctilucent clouds.

These clouds are caused by collections of ice crystals at very high in the atmosphere.

These clouds are so high up, around 200,000 feet and they reflect sunlight even at night, which look amazing.

The Met Office says noctilucent clouds are extremely rare and seen on clear summer nights.

These are the highest clouds on Earth, forming at 76 to 85 kilometers in the mesosphere.

It will appear 1-2 hours after sunset or before dawn with a “ghostly” structure and luminous color.

These observation is valuable to scientists, as the mesosphere is one of the least studied parts of the Earth’s atmosphere.