The weather in this part of the world, over the past couple of days, has been pretty rough, with very high winds and rain. I was sitting by the window of our sitting room this morning, watching one of the trees in the garden, and wondering whether it is capable of withstanding the battering it has been getting. Suddenly my attention was seized by the clouds, racing overhead. Between gaps in the heavy grey layer of lower clouds it was possible to glimpse a higher layer composed of a filmy and shifting tissue of the most beautiful rainbow colours. I was completely mesmerised by this vision, and spent perhaps half an hour just enjoying its wonder.
The presenter of our regional weather forecast this evening* explained that the technical term for this phenomenon is “nacreous clouds”. They are many miles above the surface of the earth, and consist of ice crystals blown down from the arctic. Apparently it is a very rare formation. I believe that I have seen something of this kind previously, many years ago, driving down the M1 from Bradford to Oxford. I am very grateful indeed to have been privileged to see this wonderful sight again.
*Paul Hudson is very knowledgeable. I gather that despite his regional location he is actually the BBC’s climate correspondent.