Skygazers in the UK could be treated to a show of the Northern Lights on Sunday night.
Clear skies in Scotland overnight into Sunday mean it is a good spot to possibly see the displays of light from the aurora borealis, but there is also a chance the phenomenon could be visible further south.
A map issued by the Met Office shows the chances of seeing the Northern Lights in the UK tonight.
The Met Office said: ‘Through this evening and overnight, aurora sightings are possible over northern Scotland and potentially over much of Scotland where skies remain clear.
‘There is perhaps a chance further south too, with long exposure photography.’
Met Office meteorologist Zoe Hutin said there is a ‘heightened chance’ of seeing them due to the low cloud coverage and clear skies in Scotland.
She said the movement of solar winds around the sun at this time is leading to the ‘enhanced possibility of a sighting’.
She added: ‘The further north you are, the more likely the chances are that you will be able to see them.
‘They are more easy to see on cameras, so pictures often come up a little bit more clearly than by the naked eye and this is just because of the type of beam that it is.’
The Northern Lights could be seen tonight over northern Scotland, the Met Office has said
There is also a chance the Aurora Borealis phenomenon could be visible further south
The sun has now entered its period of greatest activity, which means Britons could be seeing more colourful displays of the aurora borealis until the middle of the year.
The sun goes through an 11-year solar cycle, with periods of intense activity followed by a quiet phase.
During its active bursts, also known as solar maximum, the sun releases charged particles that travel through space at speeds of around one million miles per hour.
Some of the particles are captured by the Earth’s magnetic field and collide with oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.
These atoms and molecules then shed the energy they gained from the collision, emitting light at various wavelengths to create colourful displays in the night sky.
According to Nasa, oxygen emits either a greenish-yellow light – which is the most familiar colour of the aurora – or a red light, while nitrogen generally gives off a blue light.
The oxygen and nitrogen molecules also emit ultraviolet light, which can only be detected by special cameras on satellites.
The best way to catch the display is to find a dark place, away from light pollution such as street lights and ideally a cloud-free sky.
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights over Derwentwater, near Keswick in Cumbria
October, 2024 Pictured: The Northern Lights visible over a groyne on the beach at Portobello near Edinburgh
Jedburgh Abbey pictured with the colours of the northern lights above
Some of the best aurora spots around the UK are in areas of high elevation (closer to the magnetosphere) and away from cities that pollute the sky with artificial light.
The Northern Lights are caused by a ‘severe’ geomagnetic storm – a major disturbance of Earth’s magnetosphere, the area around Earth controlled by the planet’s magnetic field.
This disturbance is triggered when a violent stream of charged particles released from the sun’s outermost atmospheric layer is directed towards us.
‘There’s a reaction called nuclear fusion that occurs continuously deep within the sun’s core,’ explains Dr Amoré Elsje, an applied geomagnetic researcher at SANSA Space Science, in a new piece for The Conversation.
‘This generates massive amounts of energy.
‘Some of the energy is released as light (sunlight), some as radiation (solar flares), and some as charged particles.’
