Aurora Borealis: Northern Lights put on a dazzling show across the UK
- Published
The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis as they are also known, are an incredible natural phenomenon that light up the sky. Some lucky people in the UK managed to catch a glimpse of them earlier.
They are caused by activity on the surface of the Sun. Solar storms produce clouds of electrically charged particles and some of these eventually reach Earth. When they do, they react with gases in our atmosphere, creating incredible colours like these seen above the iron men statues at Anthony Gormley's Another Place on Crosby Beach.
The colours you see in the sky depend on which gas the particles have reacted with. The green we can sometimes see comes from oxygen, whereas the purple, blues and pinks come from reactions with nitrogen, as seen seen here above Keswick.
Activity on the Sun fits an 11-year cycle and is due to peak this year, meaning that seeing sights like this should become more common. These amazing colours were visible in Northern Ireland.
The lights are usually only seen in high-latitude regions such as Iceland, Greenland, Norway and parts of Canada. But this incredible green display was spotted in Glenelg in the west Scottish Highlands.
Were you lucky enough to see anything like this photo, which was taken in Holyhead in Anglesey?
- Published10 June 2021
- Published30 May 2023
- Published1 February
