Northern Lights: The best time to catch a glimpse of the display TONIGHT

There is another chance to catch a glimpse of the stunning Northern Lights display tonight (May 20). The bands of pink and green light have been seen across the UK - as well as in parts of Europe - have been more visible this month due to an "extreme" geomagnetic storm, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The most spectacular display - on May 10 - was described as "a little bit of magic". With the skies clear again tonight due to the warm temperatures, there will be another opportunity to see the aurora borealis.

Predominantly the Northern Lights are best witnessed in Scotland, northern England, north Wales and Northern Ireland but there is a small chance the aurora could be seen by the eye and camera from around the UK tonight. This is again due to the solar storms, reports The Mirror.

A Met Office spokesperson told the Manchester Evening News: "There's a chance of some aurora visibility in the far north of the UK tonight, with any viewing potential largely restricted to parts of northern Scotland and Northern Ireland. There's a slight chance of capturing some imagery for those in the north of England and Wales, though it may mean taking a long exposure camera shot to capture anything."

But cloudy skies are predicted to remain in place until around 6pm when they'll be broken up by some sunny intervals. It is therefore most likely Brits will see the Northern Lights from 10pm tonight until 2am as we head into Tuesday morning.

Speaking on Sunday, the Met Office's space weather expert Krista Hammond said: "The sunspot region will be be coming back round onto the Earth facing side of the sun." The latest sun storm activity follows a period of flares and mass ejections of coronal plasma that threatened to disrupt power and communications on Earth and in orbit.

The sun is currently in the most active period of its 11-year cycle. Ms Hammond said: "We're currently at solar maximum and we're seeing more sunspots. If we see more sunspots, we see this increased frequency in space weather and therefore the aurora." The forecaster downplayed the chances of a full repeat of last weekend's display, but said more solar activity would mean a good chance of sightings "in the coming weeks, months and years".

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