It never rains in Southern California, but that’s usually all it ever does here in London. Living in a country that receives the fifth “least annual sunshine hours” in the world, you get pretty used to seeing clouds overhead. But the UK has been experiencing an unexpected spell of sunshine recently at a time when, usually, we’re bombarded by April showers.
You may have even noticed an unusual colour in the sky above you. It’s called blueand apparently, it’s quite a normal thing to see in other parts of the world. But last week, the whole of the UK experienced this unique phenomenon, when a completely cloudless sky surrounded the British Isles.
NASA’s ‘Worldview Image of the Week’ shows a rare cloud-free day in the United Kingdom and Ireland on April 2, 2025. The image was taken by the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) aboard the joint NASA/NOAA Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership (Suomi NPP) platform.
If there’s one thing that unites England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales, it’s clouds. Islands get a lot of cloud cover due to the surrounding abundance of moisture, while landmasses in middle latitudes tend to be cloudier, as the “intersections between different atmospheric circulation patterns” lead to more cloud cover.
Essentially, the United Kingdom and Ireland tick all the boxes when it comes to more clouds. So, a completely cloudless sky? Yeah, it’s pretty special. In fact, according to a 2012 study based on MODIS data, the odds of cloud-free skies on any given day over Great Britain are 21.3%. However, this does shift from 33.3% in November to 12.9% in March.
About 67% of the Earth is covered in clouds on any given day, and at times, it feels like it’s centralised over the UK – it is literally one of the cloudiest places on the planet. So enjoy this moment of fine weather, and for a better look at the cloud-free view of the United Kingdom and Ireland head here.
