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From The Times
August 3, 2007

The day jellyfish reached the skies over Britain . . .

A view of one of the rarest cloud formations ever seen in the UK 'Altocumulus Constellatus with trailing virga'
Lewis Smith

Unusual jellyfish clouds have been spotted floating across the skies thousands of feet above Leicestershire.

The clouds, photographed on Wednesday evening, are seen a few times each year over Britain and are properly named altocumulus castellanus with trailing virga. They are formed when warm air laden with water vapour rises in columns and condenses as it gains height and reaches colder air. The strands of cloud that trail from the bottom of the main structure and resemble jellyfish tentacles are formed by rain that reevaporates before it can fall far.

Dave Britton, of the Met Office, said: “These aren’t your bog-standard clouds, but they aren’t that unusual. I see them two or three times a year.”

I think I love you, John Thomas of Sheffield, Yorkshire!

We had some similar clouds over Austin about five years ago. I'd never seen them before, so I was pretty amazed.

That was in the days before my Pastafarian conversion...

Kelly Donaldson, Austin, TX

it's the Flying Spagetti Monster!

John Thomas, Sheffield, Yorkshire

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