Northern Lights seen across UK as people share spectacular sightings of the aurora borealis
by Will Conroy · LBCBy Will Conroy
The Northern Lights were visible across huge parts of the UK on Thursday night, leading to some spectacular pictures being captured.
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The aurora is largely influenced by geomagnetic storms and the Met Office had said there was a "severe" one due to reach Earth overnight on 10 October.
This led to sightings of the phenomena across the UK on Thursday night, with reports it was visible across Britain, as far south as Sussex.
The Met Office had said that viewings were likely in Scotland and Northern Ireland and possible in the north of England and the Midlands.
Met Office spokesperson Stephen Dixon said that further residual viewings could be possible over the weekend but are likely to be confined to the likes of Scotland and could be obscured by rain and cloud.
The auroras are most common over high polar latitudes but can sometimes spread south over parts of the UK.
The geomagnetic storms often originate from the sun, which works on a cycle of around 11 years with peak sunspot activity referred to as solar maximum.
Sunspots give the potential for Earth-directed releases of large bursts of energy, which can lead to aurora visibility.
Mr Dixon said: "We're near the peak of that solar cycle so there have been more space weather events in recent months.
"International prediction centres, including the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre, are expecting solar maximum to be later this year or early next year."
Read more: Parts of UK have 'decent chance' of seeing Northern Lights tonight
Consequently, it will still be possible to see the Northern Lights once we pass solar maximum but there will be a decline in such activity.
The aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere causing them to emit light at various wavelengths, creating the stunning sights.