Northern Lights put on spectacular display above UK - can we see them tonight?

Brooke DaviesPublished April 16, 2025 8:00amUpdated April 16, 2025 12:27pm The Northern Lights covered parts of the UK last night, leaving Brits reaching for their cameras. Images show the aurora borealis geomagnetic storm lighting up the night sky, with conditions confirmed to be ‘optimum’ in most regions.People in the Isle of Sky and Cumbria reported catching a glimpse of the phenomenon.What is the aurora borealis?A geomagnetic storm is caused by energy, blasted from the Sun to Earth in solar winds. Sometimes this energy breaks into the earth’s atmosphere and makes gases glow to form what we know as the aurora borealis, or Northern Lights.You are able to see them if the conditions are right.The Met Office says: ‘The Northern Lights occur as a consequence of solar activityand result from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.‘Solar winds are charged particles that stream away from the Sun at speeds of around one mill...