Use our cloud spotting guide and video to help identify different types of clouds in the sky.
To assist with identifying different clouds while cloud spotting we've created this useful infographic. Feel free to share and use on your own website or blog but please include a link back to the Met Office.
You can also download a printable version of the
cloud spotting guide
(PDF, 295 kB)
.
Click on the clouds to find out more about each cloud type.
We've also put together a cloud spotting video. In this video, James Chubb explains how clouds form and how to tell one cloud from another.
You need Flash player 7+ and JavaScript enabled to view this video.
Interested in weather observations? Find out about cloud formation and what clouds are made of.
Help with identifying low-level clouds - cumulus, cumulonimbus, stratocumulus and stratus.
Information on spotting medium-height clouds - altocumulus, altostratus and nimbostratus.
Identifying cirrus, cirrocumulus and cirrostratus clouds. All high-level clouds - where the base is above 20,000 ft - are a type of cirrus cloud.
Guide to observing other cloud phenomena including noctilucent night clouds and contrails.