THE NORTHERN SKIES above Ireland were lit up a bright shining silver last night after appearance of rare clouds.

The phenomenon was pictured above Dublin city centre, resulting in the night sky being coloured with streaks of silver. 

Noctilucent – or night-shining – clouds appear as wispy white or blue streaks in the night sky.

They don’t result in any precipitation. Instead, they are a mix of dust and ice particles extremely high up in the atmosphere, around 60,000 metres, far beyond any other clouds.

What a display. pic.twitter.com/KQGxVZJmeI

— Sryan Bruen (@SnowbieWx) June 29, 2025

“The dust may well come from tiny meteors from space, although dust from volcanoes or man-made pollutants may add to these,” the UK’s Met Office description of the clouds explains.

The clouds become visible about the same time as the brightest stars appear and often stay visible after nightfall because they are still reflecting sunlight due to their height.

They only occur at this time of year on late clear evenings after sunset either side of the summer solstice, and even then it takes a careful combination of factors for them to appear.

Extreme cold temperatures are a must, for example.

The fact they were visible almost overhead in parts of Ireland and other parts of mid-latitude Europe last night is uncommon.

With reporting from Nicky Ryan