Northern Lights put on dazzling display overnight – where to see aurora borealis again tonight

Stunning photos of spectacular natural phenomenon captured across England on Thursday

The Northern Lights lit up the skies with spectacular bright pink hues visible overnight.

 

Stunning photos of the dazzling natural phenomenon were captured across the country on Thursday.

 

The lights, also known as aurora borealis, could be seen as far south as Kent and East Anglia.

The Met Office had said relatively clear skies were forecast for much of the UK, creating a “decent chance of visibility” across parts of the UK on Thursday night and into the early hours of Friday.

 

Spokesman for the forecaster Stephen Dixon also said there had generally been “more space weather events in recent months”, including the Northern Lights, because the sun was nearing the peak of its solar cycle.

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.

 

However, when it comes to Friday night, Britons might be disappointed, with the weather service predicting a gradual decrease in chances of seeing the lights over the weekend.

In its latest space weather forecast, the Met Office says: “The chances of aurora remain initially, though gradually easing through 11 October, becoming increasingly confined to far northern geomagnetic latitudes by 13 October.”

And the atmospheric forecast overnight similarly does not bring too much promise, with predictions of rain, which would not provide the clear skies needed to spot the aurora.

 

The forecaster says: “Rain across Scotland and Northern Ireland becoming more widespread through the night, although far north clearer with the odd wintry shower. Largely dry but chilly elsewhere, with a patchy frost.”