You might just get to see the Northern Lights over the UK tonight

It’s on most people’s bucketlist and usually something you have to travel north to witness, but the Northern Lights put on a show over parts of the UK last night and are set to return tonight.

The phenomenon swept across parts of Scotland and northern England on Tuesday night, while areas as far down as South Wales also caught sight of the magical scenes, scientifically known as the aurora borealis.

And with dark, clear skies forecast for the next few days, it’s likely that if you missed the show last night you will get another chance tonight.

Dr Nathan Case, a physicist at Lancaster University in the UK, who helps run AuroraWatch UK, said: “The aurora was spotted from across the UK last night, including as far south as South Wales.
“Last night’s aurora was driven by fast solar wind coming from a coronal hole. The solar wind is a plasma, or electrically charged gas, that constantly blows out from the Sun.”

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He added: “Particularly fast or strong solar wind conditions can produce visible aurora from the UK, such as last night.”

With conditions expected to remain strong over the next couple of days, he said those in the north of the UK have got the best chance of aurora sightings.

Aurorawatch UK issues alerts when aurora activity is high, he said, and for those keen to catch a glimpse: “To see the aurora, one needs dark, clear skies with a good view of the northern horizon.”