Images show breathtaking rainbow-coloured clouds spreading stunning colours in Arctic skies

Rainbow-coloured clouds

Amazing breathtaking rainbow-coloured clouds were observed in the Arctic. The rare rainbow was the right thing during the holiday season. 

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Polar stratospheric clouds

Spaceweather.com reported that the colourful clouds appeared over Sweden on December 17 as a cold wave just swept through the Arctic stratosphere. The rare polar stratospheric clouds were visible for at least three days between December 18 and December 20. 

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'It's that magical time of year again'

As quoted in the report, Chad Blakley, owner of the aurora tour guide service Lights over Lapland in Abisko, Sweden, said: "It's that magical time of year again. We just witnessed a spectacular display of polar stratospheric clouds." 

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Visible in different places

Live Science mentioned in its report that observers shared pictures from Norway, Sweden, Finland, Alaska, and even as far south as Scotland. 

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Nacreous clouds

The clouds, also known as nacreous clouds, appear exclusively in severely cold temperatures and they are caused by microscopic ice crystals scattering sunlight, resulting in miniature rainbows in the sky. 

The report mentioned that the crystals are hung in space at incredibly high altitudes, between 9.3 and 15.5 miles above the Earth's surface. Live Science reported that higher than clouds usually form, but at extremely cold temperatures, water vapour can start to coalesce, creating crystals. 

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