A 'strange, doughnut-shaped' cloud has been spotted over the skies of the region, causing confusion and questions from those who saw it.
The mystery cloud formation, which looked like a perfect circle up in the sky, appeared over Danby and Ainthorpe in North Yorkshire on Wednesday (August 14).
After the cloud appeared, an image was sent in by Joe Hunter from Northallerton, who was trying to identify what sort of cloud it was.
The strange discovery, which looks like it's stumped many over the years, is, aptly, named a 'doughnut cloud' - which resembles the delicious dessert item.
According to the Met Office, a doughnut cloud is: "Circular features of one sort or another are often seen in clouds, and there are many and varied explanations for them. The “doughnut cloud” shown in this photograph is a collapsed cumulus column surrounded by cumulonimbus."
As part of this strange cloud getting sent to us, we have looked at other types of clouds on the Met Office site.
Here is what we have found:
When were clouds first classified?
Clouds are continually changing and appear in an infinite variety of forms. The classification of clouds is based on a book written by Luke Howard, a London pharmacist and amateur meteorologist, in 1803. His book, The Modifications of Clouds, named the various cloud structures he had studied. The terms he used were readily accepted by the meteorological community and are still used across the world today.
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Cloud types
The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has extended Luke Howard's classifications to make 10 main groups of clouds, called genera. These are divided into three levels - cloud low (CL), cloud medium (CM) and cloud high (CH) - according to the part of the atmosphere in which they are usually found.
Names for clouds
- Stratus/strato: flat/layered and smooth
- Cumulus/cumulo: heaped up/puffy, like cauliflower
- Cirrus/cirro: high up/wispy
- Alto: medium level
- Nimbus/Nimbo: rain-bearing cloud
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