If anyone is sick of me talking about Noctilucent clouds I'm sorry, but I'm going to again this week.

We can only see these rare "night shining clouds" for a couple of months every year, and then only on a handful of nights during that period, so I really, really want as many of you as possible to see a beautiful display of them.

Besides, with the nights being so light at this time of year there's not much else to see up there.

Although the 2022 NLC season started very quietly, with only a few very pale, faint displays in the first couple of weeks, activity has definitely ramped up in the past week, with much better, much brighter displays visible on four nights in a row.

If 2022 follows the same pattern as previous years we will have the best displays during the first half of July, so on any clear night over the next fortnight keep an eye on the sky around midnight.

What are you looking for?

Displays of NLC usually start of as a vague, "hmmm, that looks strange" milkiness low in the sky to the north east, which then resolves itself into a patch of streamers, tendrils and plumes of silvery blue once the sky is dark enough to see them properly.

Most displays don't get much further than that, but if - no, when! - a big display kicks off it will fill the whole of the northern sky with billows and swirls of electric blue light, as if a cosmic child has scribbled across the sky with a flourescent pen, or an alien energy field has materialised out of nowhere.

And no, I'm not exaggerating; a big display of NLC really can look that stunning.

And it can go on until sunrise.

So, until the end of July just keep an eye on the northern sky around midnight.

There will be a big display soon, and if you're looking out fir it you'll see it - if the Cumbrian weather is kind to us that night, of course.