Northern lights dazzle in parts of UK overnight

Sky gazers were treated to “one of the best displays of aurora” on Thursday night.

After a strong geomagnetic storm, the northern lights were seen in southern England and Wales in a rare display.

The aurora can be particularly strong around the equinox which happened earlier in the week.

Aurora activity is also increasing as the sun reaches the most active part of its 11-year cycle in 2025.

Late on Thursday evening satellites which monitor solar activity picked up a strong solar wind directed towards Earth.

Aurora watchers were then alerted, poised with their cameras pointing to the northern sky.

Charged particles entered our atmosphere and interacted with oxygen and nitrogen. The result was a display of green, magenta, red and purple colours dancing in the night sky.

Seeing the aurora in Scotland is fairly normal but this geomagnetic storm was so strong that it was spotted by BBC Weather Watchers in parts of Wales and southern England.

One Weather Watcher in Norfolk described it as the “best display of aurora I’ve seen this far south – greens and magentas clearly visible by eye”.

Another reason why the display may have been so good is that around the time of an equinox, more charged particles are able to enter our atmosphere.

With the tilt of the Earth in relation to the Sun positioned at right angles during the equinox, the magnetic field is stronger resulting in a more vibrant aurora.

This latest display comes less than a month since we saw the aurora come unusually south around the UK.