© George Anderson
northern France
Latitude: 50° 22' 15'' N
Longitude: 1° 39' 40'' E
02 September 2013 1855 (Local Time)
Camera direction: towards N
Image P/S code: S.9.5
Image I.D.: 5140
Cumulus mediocris cloud over northern France, viewed from an aircraft on descent towards London Gatwick Airport, England, UK. The view is looking north-north-east along the English Channel coast, which can be seen in the top left of the picture. The air flow at cloud height is from the north-west, from left to right across the image, and the clouds are aligned in lines or streets at 1, 2 and 3, making this the variety radiatus.
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An anticyclone (1 030 hPa) is centred just to the south-west of England, UK.
The upper-air sounding from Trappes, France (near Paris) shows limited instability to daytime surface heating, capped by an anticyclonic subsidence inversion. The wind at cloud height is about 15 kt from the north-west.