Anyone who missed the Northern Lights on Thursday night will get another chance to see them, with aurora borealis likely visible to millions on Friday evening and overnight
Millions of Brits are set to get another chance to see the amazing Northern Lights over large swathes of the country, as ongoing magnetic disturbances in the atmosphere cause the natural phenomenon to appear much further south than normal.
The current aurora borealis effect being seen over large parts of the country is due to the sun releasing massive amounts of plasma, called a “coronal mass ejection”, and causes a disturbance in the magnetic fields emitted by the sun.
The Met Office has predicted that the glimmering curtains of light will appear in the skies again tonight, after they appeared in the night sky late on Thursday into Friday morning.
Some lucky sky-watchers in parts of northern England and Scotland were treated to the natural light display, but largely in less light-polluted rural areas.
But for the many who missed it, or had work in the morning, millions will again be able to see the incredible aurora borealis late tonight and early on Saturday. However, this will still largely cover the northern parts of the UK, though there have been reports as far south as Suffolk and the south coast of the glimmering lights in the night sky.
But if you are planning on staying up to catch the Northern Lights, you might need to make yourself a coffee, as the best time to catch it is likely to be close to midnight, and into Saturday morning.
Issuing an alert that Northern Lights will be visible at the end of this week, the Met Office has said: “aurora potentially visible as far south as northern England and Northern Ireland, and perhaps some northern coastal areas of North Wales and Norfolk. Visibility is forecast to fade overnight. However, another arrival overnight Friday into Saturday brings a chance of further visible aurora to northern areas of the UK, primarily Scotland.”
According to the Met Office, the current coronal mass ejection influence waned overnight Thursday (12-13 September), with a further arrival anticipated tonight. This is from a coronal mass ejection produced by a moderate flare from the sunspot, and is forecast to arrive either very late on day two, or early on day three (13-14 September).
The awe-inspiring natural phenomenon is caused by gases in the atmosphere reacting to charged particles being emitted by the sun because of this mass ejection. These particles cause gases in the atmosphere to increase in charge and spread a curtain of colour across the sky, often in flickering green, blue, pink and purple hues.
According to the Met Office’s Space Weather forecast, the best places to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights on Thursday night/Friday morning (from September 12 into September 13) and Friday night/Saturday morning (September 13 into September 14) are:
- Scotland
- Northern Ireland
- Northern England
Tips for spotting Northern Lights
The Met Office has given some top tips for anyone trying to catch a glimpse of the aurora borealis tonight:
- Look to the northern horizon: “If you’ve got a clear view of the horizon you’ve got a chance,” says a Met Office meteorologist.
- They advise stargazers to find an area with low light pollution…
- …and suggest that using a camera or telescope could boost your chances, as they’re more sensitive to different wavelengths than our eyes.