Northern Lights illuminate UK skies with more sightings possible on Monday

Met Office gives advice for how to get best view of aurora borealis

The northern lights over Shropshire, England, on February 26. PA

The northern lights in Gartcosh, Scotland. Photo: Katelin O'Neil

The view in North Uist, Scotland. Photo: Michael Leather

A spectacular view in St Andrews, Scotland. PA

The lights were visible above Loch Fleet, between Dornoch and Golspie in Scotland. Photo: Adrian Allan

The view in Blane Valley in the north of Glasgow, Scotland. PA

Rare sightings of the aurora borealis in parts of the UK on Sunday night were due to the strength of a geomagnetic storm and a "strip of cloudless skies" in southern regions, the Met Office said.

The spectacular display could be visible to stargazers again on Monday night, after the Northern Lights were seen in Sunday’s night sky as far south as Cornwall, it added.

The Northern Lights over Swaffham, eastern England. Reuters

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are visible occasionally in the night sky over Britain. They appear as large patches of various colours, from pale green to pink, red, yellow, blue and violet.

What causes the phenomenon?

The Northern Lights are caused by solar winds colliding with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere, resulting in various colours of light appearing in the sky. The arrival of what meteorologists call coronal mass ejections (CME) from the Sun can bring the lights to lower latitudes, making them potentially visible in the UK.

The Met Office shared pictures taken by the public that captured the phenomenon in various regions on Sunday, including Scotland, North Wales, Cambridgeshire and Shropshire.

Alasdair O'Dell, 40, from Dunbeg in south-west Scotland, managed to capture the lights in Connel, near where he lives. "I'll always try and see the Northern Lights if possible," he said. "It's a really exciting natural phenomenon.

"We are lucky enough to see them sometimes in Scotland — when it's not raining — but Sunday night was the most spectacular show I've seen since I've been here. I'll be out again [on Monday night] with my camera."

The aurora borealis at Loch Fleet in the north-east of Scotland. Photo: Adrian Allan

Craig Smith, 43, who works in construction and lives in Blackburn, Lancashire, also managed to photograph the Northern Lights flickering in the skies above his hometown. He said: "I've seen the lights on several occasions from home ... always great to see. The [coronal mass ejection] that hit Earth yesterday evening put on a great show.

"The lights were dancing. It's just a shame the clouds began rolling in just as it started."

The Met Office has offered advice for seeing the aurora, such as finding a dark location with no light pollution and looking north. It also warned that geomagnetic activity can disrupt satellite navigation systems.

It encouraged people to share their sightings of the Northern Lights by using the hashtag #LoveUKWeather.