A record of the changing Suffolk sky . . . click on a picture to view large . . . best seen full screen.

Monday 15 November 2010

About 10.45am, with the sun shining through a layer of altocumulus stratiformis. You can just make out a sundog (circled) and some colour to the top left of the sun, part of a halo.
Bands of altocumulus tinted by the setting sun.
Altocumulus lit from underneath, very dramatic.
Taken from outside the village, looking west.
From the same vantage point, facing north west.
Back in the village, a layer of mist crept across the playing field.

Saturday 13 November 2010



At about 11.30am, the sky was full of various cirrus clouds with contrails adding to the general confusion. There was a patch of cirrocumulus (the grainy-looking cloud in the last photo) to the south. Within half an hour or so, it was all hidden by an invading layer of stratus (see bottom right of the 2nd photo), and the sky turned grey.

Thursday 11 November 2010

The end of another wet day.

Tuesday 9 November 2010

After a couple of days of grey skies, wind and rain, a beam of sunlight suddenly shone through my window at about 4 o'clock. Had to go to the other end of the village for an unrestricted view of the last of it, at sunset.

Sunday 7 November 2010

The formless cloud trailing upwards appears to be the remains of a cumulonimbus cloud, after the rain, above a layer of stratocumulus. It was sunny but cold.

Saturday 6 November 2010

The setting sun illuminated this bank of cumulus congestus in the distance. A panorama made from two photos, stitched together - the cloud was too big to get into one photo.

Thursday 4 November 2010

In the Co-op, the women at the till commented, "Oh! Look at that sky!" It was lovely, with altocumulus stratiformis lit from below by the setting sun. I had an armful of shopping so instead of capturing it then, I drove to a friend's and rushed into her garden, but the best had gone. She kindly took the camera upstairs (my knees wouldn't allow me to go up there) and took this photo out of a bedroom window.

Wednesday 3 November 2010

Bright start to the day, with cirrocumulus stratiformis (the ripple effect), at high altitude and few patches of cumulus fractus lower down.

Tuesday 2 November 2010

The sun did its best to shine through a thin layer of altostratus translucidus this afternoon, but this is as far as it got. This is formed from a descending layer of cirrostratus.

Saturday 30 October 2010






The day started with cirrostratus and the moon still high,. Later, cumulus came and went. During the afternoon there were lots of cirrus clouds, some in extraordinary shapes, like the squiggle that drifted slowly north east, stretching as it went.

Friday 29 October 2010

A fine day. Taken from my office window - a fleet of cumulus mediocris sail across the sky, below a layer of cirrus.

Wednesday 27 October 2010

I took these photos of the same patch of sky at one minute intervals this afternoon, to show how fast the clouds were moving. There was lots of cumulus and glimpses of cirrus through the gaps.

Monday 25 October 2010

A fine day that got chillier late afternoon, when I took this. Just a few scraps of cumulus fractus here and there, and this single line of cumulus mediocris radiatus, parallel to the horizon (and the wind direction).

Sunday 24 October 2010

There was a lot going on in the sky this afternoon, some of it colourful. In one direction (to the north east), a faint rainbow. In the opposite direction, a sundog.

You can just see the base of the rainbow near the house in the first picture, in the edge of some receding nimbostratus. The sundog wasn't very bright either.

Saturday 23 October 2010

Today's weather forecast was "heavy rain", and there was a lot of stratus later on. These photos were taken during a dry spell at about 4-ish. I noticed this cumulonimbus cloud from my back gate but couldn't get a clear view as it was partially hidden by buildings, though I changed my vantage point several times. It was several miles north and the photos are deceptive because it's a huge cloud (they can reach very high elevations), though this one certainly wasn't one of the biggest. As it swelled up, the top became fibrous, as it turned to ice crystals in the upper atmosphere. If I'd had the car out, I might have gone to get some better shots.


Looking south easterly, there were some interesting shapes in a mixture of cumulus and stratocumulus clouds.

Friday 22 October 2010

Very annoying - as I drove into town there were fat rolls of bright white stratocumulus undulatus overhead, but didn't have time to stop as I had an appointment. By the time I came back, they'd all gone. I hate it when that happens!

Thursday 21 October 2010

At about 9 this morning, there was a sheet of cirrostratus (ice at high altitude) stretching over the house. It had disappeared less than an hour later.

Sunday 17 October 2010

Some odd shaped cumulus clouds appeared amidst a thickening layer of stratocumulus towards the end of the day.

Saturday 25 September 2010

Rainy day

A rainy day in shades of grey.

Tuesday 21 September 2010



A warm sunny day with fair weather cumulus humilis overhead. There were seagulls soaring in the thermals above my head - didn't have my zoom lens to get a better shot. The cloud in the middle photo looked a bit like a flying pig to me.

Thursday 16 September 2010



A changeable sort of day that ended with a pastel-tinted sunset.

Saturday 11 September 2010

Circumzenithal arc over St James's Park

A circumzenithal arc spotted over St. James's Park, London, at about tea-time - we were drinking tea when we spotted it.
If you look closely, you can see a second arc lower down. They're formed by light reflected from ice crystals in a cirrus cloud between 8 and 10 miles high.

For more on circumzenithal arcs, click here.

Here's one I saw over Suffolk four years ago.

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Just after noon, cumulus clouds started to build up into cumulus congestus cells, ready for more rain later.

Monday 30 August 2010

A bright sunny bank holiday afternoon, with lots of fair weather cumulus humilis in all directions.
Once upon a time I'd have taken off across the fields. Alas, no longer possible. The spirit is willing but the body's decrepit.
There was a pleasant warm breeze. The saplings by Manor Farm were being blown about under some cumulus fractus.

Later, I glanced out of the window and noticed this stratocumulus cumulogenitus, spreading out as the sun set.

Saturday 28 August 2010

Peach tinted stratocumulus at dusk.