Northern Lights illuminate UK skies in hues of pink and green

Skies across the UK have been illuminated in hues of green and pink by the Northern Lights.

The natural phenomenon – known as the Aurora Borealis – is the result of solar eruptions sending particles towards the Earth and interacting with particles in the atmosphere.

The Northern Lights are mostly visible near the Arctic Circle but at times of high solar activity can be seen in other areas.

Photos sent in to the BBC show dazzling images of light experienced on Monday evening across Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales as well as in parts of south-west, southern, eastern and northern England.

Auroras were reportedly visible as far south as Veneto and Emilia-Romagna in northern Italy, Murcia in southern Spain, and Côte d’Azur in the south of France.

The signal for aurora is not as strong for Tuesday night, so it will not extend as far south, and skies will be cloudier across the UK.

However, there will be some clear skies across northern and eastern Scotland, and possibly in Northern Ireland early in the night as well.

Monday’s stunning aurora was the result of a severe geomagnetic storm caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) – waves of charged particles that erupt from the sun’s surface.

As they approach Earth, they interact with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere, creating the colours we see in the night sky. Oxygen atoms glow green and nitrogen red, blue and pink.

We are currently in a period of high solar activity, called solar maximum, during the sun’s 21-year cycle. The sun has more sunspots which emit CMEs and solar flares – waves of electromagnetic radiation – and so we see more aurorae on Earth.

Geomagnetic storms and solar flares are perfectly safe for us as we are protected from the radiation by our atmosphere, but they can interfere with technology.

The aurora is best viewed under clear skies. Look to the north for a faint glow at first and if you can’t see the colours, try through a camera lens or on your phone.

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