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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Matthew Dresch

Met Office explains why Storm Dudley caused odd cloud formations 'like a painting'

Storm Dudley caused odd cloud formations to appear above the UK today.

Curious Brits took to social media to share pictures of the distinctive pouch-like clouds, which one person likened to a painting.

The phenomenon took place as 80mph winds lashed the country after the Met Office issued an amber weather warning for the north of the UK.

Meteorologists have now answered Brits' queries about the bizarre clouds that accompanied Storm Dudley.

The organisation said the formations are called mammatus clouds.

These clouds usually emerge after a storm has passed, particularly thunderstorms.

They are named 'mamma', which means breast or udder in Latin, due to the 'pouches' that appear underneath them.

One awestruck Brit shared a snap of the clouds above the Scottish town of Clarkston, in East Renfrewshire.

Another Twitter user, Claire Campbell, posted an image of the clouds above Glasgow.

She said: "I spotted these clouds during Storm Dudley today, at Silverburn (shopping centre)! Like a painting!"

Meanwhile Brian Morrison shared a video of the same 'weird clouds' above Glasgow.

The pouch-like formations left many Brits awestruck (bripmo/Twitter)
People shared pictures of the phenomenon on social media (Chuck_J79/Twitter)

Another person wrote '#StormDudley is doing weird things to the sky up in Edinburgh' and shared a picture of a red sky filled with mammatus clouds.

Retweeting a video of the clouds, the Met Office said: "Great Mammatus clouds from #StormDudley."

The Met Office website states: "(Mammatus clouds) are some of the most unusual and distinctive clouds formations with a series of bulges or pouches emerging from the base of a cloud.

"The shape of mammatus formations can vary widely; from the classic protruding shape, to a more elongated tube hanging from the cloud above.”

The clouds are particularly eye-catching during sunsets, when they absorb the red light and take on a crimson colour.

The formations came after Storm Dudley caused chaos across the UK, downing trees and knocking out power for thousands of households.

Nearly 1,700 homes in Wigan, Greater Manchester, were left without electricity after strong winds caused an outage.

Electricity North West previously warned the weather may damage overhead lines and the network operator has now dispatched engineers to fix the issue.

The firm said power cuts have also taken place in towns and villages throughout Lancashire and Cumbria.

Storm Dudley downed trees across Britain today (Daily Post Wales)

As of 5pm, Capel Curig in Wales had experienced gusts of up to 81mph, with Emley Moore in Yorkshire seeing 74mph winds, while Drumalbin in Scotland was hit by 71mph gales.

Social media users shared images and videos of fallen trees, large waves smashing coastal areas, howling winds and rain sweeping through quiet roads and dark and gloomy skies, with some facing delays on public transport.

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst told the PA news agency: "We've seen Storm Dudley move in over the course of today with strong winds and heavy rain across northern parts of the country.

Huge waves crashed into the seafront in Blackpool as strong winds hit the coast (PA)

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"This is a complete contrast to areas in the south which have been rather mild and calm for the most part, the temperature even reaching 17C in some areas.

"Exposed areas in Scotland, Northern Ireland, parts of Wales and northern England have seen wind speeds largely between 60 and 70mph but the worst affected areas have reached and even surpassed 80mph this afternoon.

"In terms of rainfall the highest we've seen in the past 24 hours is 36.8mm in Low Laithes in west Yorkshire, which is a good amount for the time period.

"These conditions are likely to continue into the evening before mellowing out in the early hours of Thursday."

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