Surreal rainbow-colored clouds photographed in Ireland ahead of storm

Have you ever seen anything quite like this before?

Unusual rainbow-colored clouds brightened up the skies over the Dublin and Belfast areas on February 1, 2016, ahead of Storm Henry’s 80mph winds.

This great display in the heavens, spotted on St. Brigid’s Day morning, was also seen in parts of Britain but are rarely seen quite so far south. The amazing clouds, technically called polar stratospheric clouds or nacreous clouds usually occur at high latitudes, in places like Scandinavia, Iceland, Alaska and Northern Canada.

@WeatherCee Nacreous clouds over Dundalk, Co.Louth, Ireland pic.twitter.com/ZD4rH70GTK
— Jonathan Scales (@djtaranis) February 1, 2016

Pics: Incredible, and rare, clouds appear over Ireland https://t.co/IRukotiNb0 pic.twitter.com/iho7jl2xUW
— Sunday World (@sundayworld) February 1, 2016

The clouds, displaying the pastel colors of the rainbow, are formed high in the atmosphere, at heights of up 9 to 15 miles. The colors are created as crystals are formed at temperatures of around -121F. The clouds are normally associated with high winds.

Enter Storm Henry.

Reason for Nacreos clouds in Dublin today: Polar vortex displaced from North Pole where such clouds normally occur pic.twitter.com/llOXUZT49y
— Mark Dunphy (@Mark_Dunphy) February 1, 2016

Ireland is already being battered by the storm, which is expected to bring gusts of up to 85mph on Monday evening. Ireland’s metrological service, Met Éireann, has released three weather warnings for Monday night.

In the southwest of Ireland, winds of between 40 and 50mph are expected with gusts of between 70 and 80mph.

#StormHenry expected to generate gusts of 70-80mph across Scotland ��https://t.co/SRmBHLBHAx pic.twitter.com/06HNhTmF4K
— BBC News (UK) (@BBCNews) February 1, 2016

Winds will at their strongest along the coast and a Status Orange warning has been issued for counties Donegal, Galway, Leitrim, Mayo, Sligo, Clare, Cork, Kerry, and Limerick. A Status Yellow wind warning has been issued for Leinster, Cavan, Monaghan, Roscommon, Tipperary, and Waterford. A Status Orange gale warning has also been issued for all coastal waters and the Irish Sea, with winds expected to reach Storm Force 10 on coasts from Erris Head to Malin Head to Fair Head.

Check out the force of nature at work in this video (that could mean the man prancing or the wind) as Storm Henry batters the Atlantic coast: