noctilucent clouds

noctilucent clouds 23:24BST at newark pier, port glasgow

another from thursday night at 23:24BST. as i was preparing to leave about 11pm BST these strange, wispy, ethereal, white clouds appeared mysteriously & wraith-like in the sky above the pier. it turns out they are noctilucent clouds. they are 'the most exotic clouds in the sky' and are also the highest- at 80,000-85,000' they are on the very edge of space and represent ice crystals that are still catching the sun's light although it has dipped below the horizon so that lower clouds are in shadow. as such they are only seen in summer and between latitudes 50°-70°. by comparison the other highest clouds seen in the uk are cirrhus which are c11,000'.
read more about them here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noctilucent_cloud
and for a rather fine 3min audio slide show from the bbc see here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-10635796

and here are some of the other photos I took:

I looked at the heron and it looked at me as we both stood stock still by the water's edge watching the sun set behind the Cowal Hills in Argyll in an impressive display of beauty & colour.