Stunning 'cotton wool' mammatus clouds formed after a lightning storm over Iraq on Monday (June 15).<br /><br />The natural weather phenomenon, resembling fluffy pouches of cotton wool or cotton candy, was seen in the autonomous Kurdistan region of Dohuk Governorate.<br /><br />Onlooker named Shahi Amedi said: ''I've never seen clouds like this before. An hour before seeinh them, we experienced lightning and heavy rainfall. They were so cool and pretty.''<br /><br />Mammatus clouds, meaning "mammary clouds", are cellular patterns of pouches hanging underneath the base of a cloud.<br /><br />For a mammatus clouds to form, the sinking air must be cooler than the air around it and have high liquid water or ice content.
