A HOLIDAYMAKER captured a curiosity in the sky while visiting a beach close to Bridport.

Chris Dawson pictured a series of fallstreak holes – also known as “hole punch” clouds – in the skies above Eype Beach, located three miles from the town.

Chris, a keen photographer, sent some stunning images of the phenomenon to the Bridport News after enjoying a break in West Dorset during half-term week.

The sighting occurred in the same week that similar cloud formations were spotted in the skies above Weymouth, with readers’ pictures featuring in the Dorset Echo.

Graphic designer Chris, creative director at a web design agency who was visiting the area from his home in Bath, said: “We had some lovely weather that week so it was ideal for a walk on the beach.

“I had read the story in the Echo about the fallstreak holes that had been seen previously in Dorset so I was keeping my eye out, and took as many pictures as I could when I saw them.

“They are quite a sight, especially on such a clear day – like someone has literally punched holes in the clouds.”

According to the Met Office, a fallstreak hole forms when part of a cloud layer forms ice crystals which are large enough to fall as a ‘fallstreak’.

The holes form in clouds of supercooled water droplets, water below 0 degrees but not yet frozen, sometimes after an aircraft punches through the cloud layer causing the air to expand and cool as it passes over its wings or propeller.

This change in temperature can encourage the supercooled droplets to freeze and fall from the cloud layer in this distinctive pattern.

They have been spotted all over the world but are very rarely seen.

Have you spotted any fallstreak holes in the skies above Bridport or Lyme Regis, or any other unusual or spectacular cloud patterns? Send your pictures to news@bridportnews.co.uk