Northern lights illuminate skies as far south as Cornwall
Star gazers were treated to the Northern lights along with the peak of the Perseid meteor shower, such as this Holyhead, Anglesey
Simon King
Lead Weather Presenter
Stunning displays of the Northern lights have been seen right across the UK, coinciding for the second night in a row with the Perseid meteor shower.
Skies as far south as Cornwall were lit up by the auroral display.
The Northern lights – or aurora borealis – has made regular appearances in the UK over the last few months but it takes a particularly strong geomagnetic storm for it to be visible in southern England.
With enhanced solar activity continuing, there will be more chances to see the aurora over the coming months.
Image source, BBC Weahter Watchers / Rossi
The rich green colours of the aurora captured here in the Highlands looks like a scene from a sci-fi movie.
The Northern lights appear as bright, swirling curtains of lights in the night sky and range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.
They’re caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
They occur around the North Pole when the solar wind carrying the particles interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field.
The most impressive auroras occur when the Sun emits really large clouds of particles called coronal mass ejections.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / art_sea_craft_sea_ellie
Northern lights were captured in Cornwall on Monday night by one of our BBC Weather Watchers
The aurora originates from the poles and spreads southward (in the northern hemisphere) and depending on its strength, sky gazers in Scotland can often see the aurora.
It’s rarer to see it in southern England.
However, with the Sun reaching a peak in activity, there have been more frequent spells of strong activity.
This has resulted in the aurora being seen across southern England on a few occasions this year.
Solar activity increased throughout Monday afternoon with a “strong G3 geomagnetic storm” being observed, meaning it was likely that the Northern lights would be visible across the UK with the naked eye, overnight.
BBC Weather Watchers sent in hundreds of photos of the Northern lights as they ventured outside between 10pm and 1am.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / Ruth Davies
Fantastic night sky filled with aurora in Llandegla, Denbighshire
Perseids meteor shower
The Northern lights haven’t been the only celestial show in the night sky.
Over the last few nights we’ve had the peak of the Perseid meteor shower where up to 100 shooting starts – the meteors – could be visible.
Those who went out on Sunday night to capture the meteors were also treated to an unexpected aurora.
Capturing meteors and the aurora in one picture was like the “holy grail”, someone suggested to me.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / The Fizzery
The Perseid meteor shower also gave sky gazers a treat on Monday night
Will the Northern lights or Perseids be visible tonight?
The strong geomagnetic storm on Monday night has eased, but according to the Met Office Space Weather forecasts there could be a slight increase in activity again overnight into Wednesday morning.
It’s not likely to be as strong as the activity of Sunday and Monday night however so aurora may be more limited to northern parts of the UK.
Activity on Wednesday should drop back to “background levels” with significant enhancements unlikely.
As for the Perseid meteor shower, the peak in activity was on Monday and it does tail off quickly after.
So, while there could still be a few meteors to spot, it’s much less likely from now.
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / Paul Abbleby
Impressive aurora seen in Craster, Northumberland on Monday night
Image source, BBC Weather Watchers / Jonnymo
Northern lights were seen in Shropshire
