An extraordinary phenomenon was seen in the skies over Europe

Intense pearlescent clouds appeared in the skies over northern Europe last week.

In recent days, the appearance of unusual and beautiful rainbow clouds has been recorded in European countries. Space reported it.

These polar stratospheric clouds are among the highest in Earth’s atmosphere. They are sometimes called mother-of-pearl clouds because of their colorful appearance.

On the afternoon of December 22, residents of many cities in northern Italy could admire this optical effect. An unusual phenomenon was noticed in various places in Turin and Verbano. Scattered clouds were also seen across the UK last week. Unusual multicolored clouds were also seen in Norway, Sweden and Finland.

Pearly clouds form in the polar regions in the lower stratosphere at an altitude of 20 to 30 km. While ordinary clouds form at a height of less than 13 km. Rainbow clouds look like aurora borealis. They illuminate sunlight from above the horizon and then reflect it onto the Earth’s surface.

Nacreous clouds are composed of smaller ice particles than more common clouds. When sunlight passes through these tiny particles, it is refracted and the colors are separated into different wavelengths. Therefore, a rainbow effect appears in the sky.

In order for these clouds to form, very low temperatures are required. It should be below minus 78 degrees Celsius. Therefore, nacreous clouds can only be seen in winter in the polar regions.

Although nacreous clouds are a very colorful phenomenon, they also have a dark side. These clouds play an important role in depleting the ozone layer in the Arctic.

We remind you that on November 5, the aurora was observed in different parts of Ukraine. According to scientists, the cause of the aurora in Ukraine is a strong geomagnetic storm.