Northern Lights returning to the UK tonight – here’s where you can see them

The Met Office has issued a '90% chance' alert on seeing the lights in the UK.

If you slept through last weekend’s rare opportunity to see the Northern Lights in the UK, you may have another chance tonight.

The striking ribbons of pink and green light – also known aurora borealis – were visible to Brits for the first time in 20 years thanks to an ‘extreme’ geomagnetic storm.

Now, they look set to return to some parts of the country.

Here is what you need to know

When can you see the Northern Lights in the UK?

Now the Met Office has issued a ‘90% chance’ alert of them returning this evening, May 20, at around 9pm.

They will fade overnight but could appear once again later this week.

Where to see Nothern Lights in the UK

Sightings are most likely in northern Scotland and Northern Ireland, it said, with a slight chance of catching them in northern England or north Wales.

Why can we see the Nothern Lights in the UK?

Aurora displays happen when charged particles beamed out from sunspots collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles.

Activity usually occurs in the northern hemisphere, but when it’s strong it can cover a larger area and therefore seen further south.

A Met Office spokesperson said: ‘There’s a chance of some aurora visibility in the far north of the UK tonight, with any viewing potential largely restricted to parts of northern Scotland and Northern Ireland.

‘There’s a slight chance of capturing some imagery for those in the north of England and Wales, though it may mean taking a long exposure camera shot to capture anything.

‘It’s worth noting that any visibility is likely to be significantly less strong than what was seen a few weekends ago, when auroras could be seen over the vast majority of the UK.

‘Chances of enhanced aurora activity is expected to decline in the coming nights, though this is subject to ongoing assessment by the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre.’

Meanwhile Met Office space expert Krista Hammond said: ‘We’re currently at solar maximum and we’re seeing more sunspots.

‘The sunspot region will be coming back round onto the Earth facing side of the sun.

‘If we see more sunspots, we see this increased frequency in space weather and therefore the aurora.’

On May 10, impressive aurora displays were recorded across the country, including Whitley Bay on the north east coast, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Wokingham in Berkshire.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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