Northern Lights may be visible tonight in Northern Ireland, Met Office says

The Met Office says the Northern Lights may be visible in Northern Ireland on Wednesday night.

According to the forecaster, "a geomagnetic storm will give an enhanced chance of aurora activity" on April 17.

Posting on X, the Met Office added: "The #NorthernLights may be visible across Scotland, as well as Northern Ireland and parts of northern England with clear spells to start, before turning cloudier from the west later."

READ MORE: Northern Ireland weather for the week ahead

The forecaster says: "The northern lights (also known as aurora borealis) appear as large areas of colour including pale green, pink, shades of red, yellow, blue and violet in the direction due north.

"During a weak aurora, the colours are very faint and spread out whereas an intense aurora features greater numbers of and brighter colours which can be seen higher in the sky with a distinct arc.

"The northern lights are best seen in darkness, away from any light pollution. The lights generally extend from 50 miles to as high as 400 miles above the Earth's surface."

It adds: "The northern lights occur as a consequence of solar activity and result from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere."

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