There’s a good chance of getting a glimpse of the Northern Lights in the UK this week – but not everyone will be able to see them.
The stunning aurora borealis, which is most commonly seen much further north than the UK, could put on a dazzling display for us thanks to two solar flares.
Astronomers spotted the flares erupting from the sun earlier this week, and it’s thought they could bring the Northern Lights to the UK.
The aurora borealis is caused when solar storms react with atmospheric gases above the north and south magnetic poles, and we were lucky enough to see its beautiful display earlier this year, in May.
Most of the two solar flares spotted earlier this week – a process called coronal mass ejection which sees plasma released from the sun into space – will miss the earth altogether.
But Krista Hammond, space weather expert at the Met Office, told Sky News there’s a chance that the earth will ‘clip the edge’ of the two flares, creating the possibility of a storm which can cause the Northern Lights.
Krista added: ‘Over the next couple of days, there’s a chance that we could be seeing the Northern Lights, particularly across northern parts of Scotland, in the north of England, and Northern Ireland.
‘This is because there’s the potential to see the arrival of a geomagnetic storm.’
We’ve been lucky enough to see more of the aurora borealis in recent months because the sun is currently in a more active part of its cycle.
The sun’s cycle lasts for about 11 years as its magnetic fields flip, and during the ‘solar maximum’ phase, there are many more solar flares and solar storms, meaning the Northern Lights appear much further south than they normally would.
But Krista warns not to get complacent about seeing the aurora borealis, because it’s hard to tell when the ‘solar maximum’ will end and solar activity will start to decrease again.
She explained: You can’t really tell that you’ve peaked until you’re in the descending phase.
‘But it’s estimated that solar maximum is about now to the start of next year.’
The best times and locations to see the Northern Lights in the UK
The Met Office says: ‘Aurora activity is expected to increase this weekend, leading to aurora potentially being visible across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England where skies are clear.
‘Saturday night has the greatest likelihood of aurora being visible, with a chance that aurora may be visible further south, across central England and similar latitudes.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
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