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The generic term "cloud" goes back at least as far as 1800 (where Ngrams starts cataloging books). Take a look at this comparison of the usage of "the cloud" vs. "the clouds" and you'll see that the latter has nearly twice the citations. That's likely because there's rarely only a single cloud in the sky. Granted, there's a lot of other meanings for "cloud" but I usually start with Ngrams when responding to a question like yours.

The Online Etymology Dictionary says the use of "cloud" to name those things we see in the sky dates to ca. 1200, and that "cloud" evolved from "clud" and or "clod" (which were names for piles of dirt). Cumulus clouds often resemble piles of dirt, and in a storm, can have a dark color rather than white.

The scientific classification of clouds into different types (cirrus, cumulus, stratus, nimbus) began around 1800 and his since then incorporated many sub-categories. Now, if you're taking about stratus, then you have a single cloud covering most or all of the sky, and the usage you heard would make perfect sense, but if I understand you correctly, you say they use that term even when there are multiple separated clouds in the sky. That doesn't make sense to me, and I've never heard it used that way in the US, so it must be a UK thing.

It could also be a recent meme that's caught on in the UK. TV meteorologists (and others in the news business) seem to be particularly susceptible to that. Of late, the word "inundate" is getting a spike in use. So is "tornadic" and "climactic" (which is an outright error). You gotta remember that most media "meteorologists" don't really have degrees in meteorology ... they learn the jargon and play the role, but it's more about a pretty face and good stage presence.

deaconB said: What are they cataloging before 1800?  Google nGram Viewer shows a big spike for cloud about 1650 and a big spike for clouds about 1580. Looking at the citations from 1500 to 1651, it appears most the citations are related to the language of the KJV bible, and not discussing weather at all.

I left the search period at the default 1800 instead of setting it back further, knowing 1800 was around when the scientific classification of clouds started. Then I erred by stating that's when Ngrams "started cataloging books" when I meant "started cataloging the (types of) books" I was looking for ... specifically those with meteorology glossaries. Sloppy writing on my part. My apologies for a misleading statement. From the Online Etymology Dictionary (and common sense) I knew the word "cloud" went back much further but didn't expect to find anything useful pre-1800.

I wasn't expecting Ngrams to be much help (which it wasn't) because "cloud" has so many other meanings, both as a noun and a verb. See my revised (and still not helpful) search here. I used the search terms "the cloud" and "the clouds" to at least eliminate the verb uses, and see that the plural form still dominates all the way back to 1500. But good luck finding any citation showing the usage DavidR asked about. I checked a couple dozen. No joy.

So the 1800 spike is no doubt due to the emerging scientific classification and study of clouds, but those two earlier spikes in 1600 and 1650 are a puzzle. I see citations related to the KJV bible, weather, and classical literature, but still nothing that addresses DavdR's question. I'll stick with my original guess that referring to multiple clouds in the singular is either a UK thing and/or a current media meme.