Northern Lights could be seen tonight as new storm alert issued

The Met Office has released a fresh space weather forecast, indicating that the Northern Lights could once again be visible in certain parts of the UK on the evening of Monday, May 20. So it's time to keep your eyes peeled when the sun goes down tonight.

Earlier this month, the lights put on a breathtaking display, casting shimmering green and pink waves across almost the entire country's night sky. According to the Met Office, there is a possibility of G1 and G2 storms - the scale reached all the way up to G5 for the spectacular displays earlier this month.

The forecaster said: "There are currently nine sunspots on the visible disc (of the Sun). The largest region lies in the southeast disc, with slight growth and consolidation in its intermediate spots and a moderately complex magnetic structure. The sunspot group located near centre-disc in the southern hemisphere remained largely unchanged, though also maintains a somewhat complex magnetic configuration. A region in the southwest indicated weak development, with some growth and consolidation of its intermediate spots. The other sunspot regions are generally smaller, simpler and more stable.

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"A large filament (arc of plasma) lift-off from the southern hemisphere that began around 18/2200UTC has been modelled as missing below Earth orbit. Another large filament eruption observed in the northwest is yet to be analysed for any potential Earth-directed component, but given its location, this is probably unlikely. Otherwise, no Earth-directed CMEs were observed in the past 24 hours."

The full intensity of the light is also predicted to make a comeback in about 10 or 11 days when the currently erupting area of the sun's surface rotates back towards Earth. The Northern Lights are caused by the interaction between Earth's magnetic field and solar wind particles, which are released during mass and energy eruptions from the Sun's surface.

During times of heightened solar activity, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, the Northern Lights can appear more vibrant and can be observed at lower latitudes.

The natural light shows are caused by the interaction between Earth's magnetic field and particles travelling from the Sun, forming mesmerising displays in our night sky. The Met Office Space Weather Centre advised on Monday: "An enhancement to the aurora may occur on Monday night (20-21 May) following the possible arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun late Friday 17 May.

"Following any CME arrival aurora may become visible, where skies are clear, across parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a slight chance that views of the aurora may also be possible from northern England and North Wales. Following this auroral activity is expected to decline, although confidence is lower than usual however and some slight enhancement to the aurora at times can't be ruled out."

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