Northern Lights 'red alert' issued for UK with 'best place' to catch glimpse

A "red alert" notice has been issued for seeing the Northern Lights across UK skies THIS weekend. The amber alert for parts of the UK was issued in the wake of a solar phenomenon which has seen flares emitted, giving Brits the chance to catch a glimpse of the extraordinary space event.

According to AuroraWatch UK, a red alert means: "It is likely that aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK." Professor Jim Wild said: "@aurorawatchuk red alert issued at 19:02 BST understandably got a lot of people excited. The magnetic field spike at @SumburghHead looks plausible."

An amber alert means: "Aurora is likely to be visible by eye from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland; possibly visible from elsewhere in the UK. Photographs of aurora are likely from anywhere in the UK."

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"Aurora may be visible by eye from Scotland and may be visible by camera from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland," the yellow alert description reads. AuroraWatch UK is a free service offering alerts of when the aurora might be visible from the UK. It is run by scientists in the Space and Planetary Physics group at Lancaster University’s Department of Physics.

The impressive Aurora Borealis, usually only visible from northern parts of the British Isles, was visible across large parts of the UK overnight last weekend, as the country enjoyed Eurovision on the BBC, including Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, unusually, southern England.

At the time, Chris Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, said: "It is hard to fully predict what will happen in the Earth's atmosphere, but there will still be enhanced solar activity tonight, so the lights could be visible again in northern parts of the UK, including Scotland, Northern Ireland and the far north of England."

The NOAA said the G5 geomagnetic storm, which is considered extreme and is the strongest level of geomagnetic storm, hit Earth on Thursday and brought with it the risk of affecting communications, GPS and power grids.