Northern Lights could be visible TODAY as ‘red alert’ issued & Met Office shares space weather forecast
THE Northern Lights could be visible from the UK again tonight.
The Aurora Borealis dazzled the nation last weekend, with a stunning display of colourful lights being spotted as far south as Essex, Cambridgeshire and Berkshire.
They were also seen in Suffolk, Kent, Hampshire and Liverpool.
Sightings reached as far as Ireland, with the Irish weather service Met Eireann posting images of the lights in Dublin and at Shannon Airport in Co Clare.
And now, northern parts of the country may yet be able to catch another glimpse of the phenomenon.
The Met Office have issued a “red alert” – meaning aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK.
AuroraWatch UK, which is run by scientists in the Space and Planetary Physics group at Lancaster University’s Department of Physics, explained: “Aurora is likely to be visible by eye from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland; possibly visible from elsewhere in the UK.
“Photographs of aurora are likely from anywhere in the UK.”
The Met Office space weather department says there remains “enhancement to the aurora is likely into early May 18” in the Northern Hemisphere.
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma from the sun.
The visibility of the Northern Lights was increased because of an “extreme” geomagnetic storm, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The NOAA said the G5 geomagnetic storm, which is considered extreme and is the strongest level of geomagnetic storm, hit earth on Thursday.
The cause of this storm was a “large, complex” sunspot cluster and is 17 times the diameter of earth, with the last storm with a G5 rating hitting earth in October 2003, causing power outages in Sweden.
What are the Northern Lights?
Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles.
In the northern hemisphere, most of this activity takes place within a band known as the aurora oval, covering latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.
When activity is strong, this expands to cover a greater area – which explains why displays can be occasionally seen as far south as the UK.
The visibility of the Northern Lights was increased on Friday because of an “extreme” geomagnetic storm, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The phenomena appears as beautiful dancing green and purple ribbons of light that have captivated people for millennia.