Northern lights give dazzling displays for UK stargazers
- Published
Northern Lights visible as far south as Cheshire and Lincolnshire
Parts of the UK were treated to a dazzling display last night, as the northern lights lit up the night sky.
Weather Watchers as far south as Cheshire and Lincolnshire reported seeing the colourful green and pink skies of the aurora borealis, or northern lights, whilst an aurora hunter in Norfolk said the display had left him feeling 'exhilarated'.
The northern lights are caused by geomagnetic storms on the Sun, which release a burst of gas and magnetic fields which lead to charged particles entering the Earth's atmosphere. When these particles interact with oxygen and nitrogen, they give off the spectacular green, red and purple colours that we see as the aurora.
These bursts of charged particles are known as coronal mass ejections, or CMEs. There have been three CMEs since Monday, resulting in an increase in aurora sightings in the UK.
The third of this week's CMEs is known as a 'cannibal' CME. This burst of gas and particles moved more quickly than the first two, overtaking and engulfing them, hence its 'cannibal' name.
Although the aurora activity is likely to be strong again tonight, cloud cover will mean that not as many people get to view the spectacular displays.
The northern lights gave a green display at Lossiemouth in Moray.
Weather Watcher Johnny Gios captured this spectacular picture in Cumbria. 'Never in a million years did I think I would capture the aurora tonight in the Lake District - simply stunning at Blea Tarn tonight'.
The aurora was visible as far south as Cheshire. Weather Watcher 'myguidedwalks' in Macclesfield captured this picture of a glowing sky.
The skies also lit up green across parts of Lincolnshire, as this picture from Fosdyke shows.
Sycamore Gap in Northumberland is illuminated by the pink and purple of the northern lights. Picture by Steven Lomas.