Rare 'UFO clouds' spotted in UK skies

Skygazers in northern parts of the UK have been reporting otherworldly goings on taking place overhead.

What has been observed may look like flying saucers but they are actually lenticular clouds, also referred to by some as pancake or UFO clouds.

At their most spectacular around sunrise or sunset when illuminated by the low sun, they need the right weather patterns to make an appearance and are not especially common in the UK.

The meteorological name for the clouds is altocumulus lenticularis. Lenticularis is Latin for lens-shaped, which aptly describes their appearance.

For them to occur in the UK we need to be on the edge of an area of high pressure, with a brisk wind blowing at a right angle to a hill or mountain range.

With high pressure systems, a layer of slightly warmer air can occur higher up in the atmosphere that acts like an invisible ceiling. If that 'ceiling' occurs just above the hill tops the fast-flowing air bounces downwind of the hills. It’s in the top of those bounces where cloud can form like a cap, and you can sometimes get several of them stacked on top of one another - like pancakes.

On Thursday and Friday morning south-westerly winds meant the clouds appeared to the north-east of the Grampians, Highlands and Pennines.

With high pressure still close by and a brisk wind likely in the north and west of the UK it may be possible to see more of these stunning clouds over the weekend.

Due to a slight shift in wind direction areas with the best chance will be around Moray, north Cumbria and maybe north Wales.