Cumulus humilis

Taken early one evening from Birdlip Hill, Gloucestershire and looking west.  The  photograph above is one of my favourite cloud shots of all time: I like it for the simplicity and the soft colours blending in with each other.  These clouds float around at about 2,000ft give or take a little.

These clouds are still forming as their bases haven't come together completely.  They're common in warm fine weather and sometimes rise further to become Cumulus mediocris or cumulus congestus if there has already been rain.  Happily this didn't happen on this day, they rolled by as we drove home in lovely weather.

The photograph on the left was taken a little sooner or later from the same spot and has the Forest of Dean hills in the bottom left and the Malvern Hills in the bottom right.

Cumulus congestus

 Dramatic Comulus congestus clouds which I always seem to notice most of all in May, here in the UK.  They can be threatening with heavy showers and develop very vigourously.

The overall size of these can sometimes be stunning and you can almost see the internal convections taking place as the fluffy tops continue to bubble away.

Cumulus mediocris

An example of Cumulus mediocris, where such clouds are arranged and moulded into shape by the wind.  I remember this clearly and it was almost eerie seeing this ribbon of heavy cloud forming a dark line in an otherwise cloudy sky.