THE Northern Lights have lit up skies across the UK with colourful hues dazzling onlookers.
Breathtaking photos of the stunning natural phenomenon, also known as aurora borealis, were captured across the country by Brits.
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The Met Office said that the viewings were likely in Scotland and Northern Ireland and possible in the north of England and the Midlands.
However, thanks in part to relatively clear skies, they were visible for huge numbers of Brits well beyond this.
The beautiful lights could be seen as far south as London.
The lights also spotted further north in Lancaster by Professor Jim Wild, 49, who captured the Northern Lights from his back garden.
The academic, who researches the aurora and space weather at Lancaster University, said: “My research focuses on the physics of the connections between the Sun and the Earth.
“Over the years, I’ve been to the Arctic Circle several times to make measurements of the aurora, but it’s really special to see the northern lights from your back garden with your whole family.”
People are advised to use a long exposure camera to capture the auroras, as the phenomenon is not always visible with the naked eye.
The UK has seen more of the Northern Lights in 2024 than in many recent years.
Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles.
As they collide, light is emitted at various wavelengths, creating colourful displays in the sky.
The Met Office said relatively clear skies were forecast for much of the UK, creating a “decent chance of visibility”.
A spokesman for the forecaster said there had been “more space weather events in recent months”, including the Northern Lights, because the sun was nearing the peak of its solar cycle.
Met Office spokesman Stephen Dixon said there was a chance of some visible auroras across parts of the UK on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday.
The auroras on Earth, which are most commonly seen over high polar latitudes but can spread south, are chiefly influenced by geomagnetic storms which originate from activity on the Sun.
The sun works on a cycle of around 11 years called the solar cycle – with peak sunspot activity on the surface of the Sun referred to as solar maximum.
Sunspots give the potential for Earth-directed releases of large bursts of energy, called coronal mass ejections, which can lead to aurora visibility.
Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles.
As they collide, light is emitted at various wavelengths, creating colourful displays in the sky.
There have been several mesmerising displays visible from both sides of the Atlantic already this year.
But flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.
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Auroras – how do they work?
Here’s the official explanation from Nasa…
- The dancing lights of the auroras provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun
- Auroras are one effect of such energetic particles.
- These particles can speed out from the sun from giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs and solar flares, explosions of radiation on the sun.
- After a trip toward Earth that can last two to three days, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light
- The result: the Northern and Southern lights.