AS NEWPORT was rising from its slumber yesterday morning, amazing wave-like cloud formations hovered above.

And no, people weren't dreaming. The sea hadn't somehow assumed the ability to appear as clouds in the sky.

The effect is commonly referred to as 'Billow Clouds' and is produced by a difference in the speed of air layers.

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Ashley Stokes)

Scientifically, they are called Kelvin-Helmholtz clouds.

A Kelvin-Helmholtz instability forms where there’s a velocity difference across the interface between two fluids: for example, wind blowing over water

The wave-like effect forms when two different layers of air in our atmosphere are moving at different speeds.

The upper layers of air are moving at higher speeds and will scoop the top of the cloud layer into the wave shape.

A number of early-birds were able to capture the captivating formation. Here are our pick of the bunch.

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Julie Harris)

Sue Parker pointed out that the clouds appeared to stem from the billowing of smoke from an industrial chimney.

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Sue Parker)

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Zoe New)

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South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Leanne Fullick)

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(Picture: Marc Andrews)

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Julie Harris)

South Wales Argus:

(Picture: Nicola Edwards)