Scouser mistook Premier Inn for Northern Lights on way home from night out

Ryan Paton

16 May 2024 at 11:35 am·1-min read

ECHO photographers captured incredible pictures of the Northern Lights on Crosby beach last week -Credit:Colin Lane/Liverpool Echo

A man from Liverpool was in stitches after he mistook a Premier Inn hotel for the Northern Lights.

Karim Akhtar was walking home from a night out in Norwich last Friday with his friend Solomon Laurent when they noticed the sky lit up with a purple hue. The two friends are studying at the University of East Anglia and thought the colourful display was the Aurora borealis, which lit up the UK sky last week.

However, they were disappointed to walk around the corner and find it was actually a sign from a Premier Inn hotel in Norwich. Karim shared the hilarious incident on his TikTok account and has since wracked up over 6m views.

He captioned the clip: "We thought we missed them in Iceland but saw them in Norwich." As they turned around the corner to see what has really lit up the sky purple, Karim said: "How have we been catfished? I thought it was the Northern Lights"

The 22-year-old said he was been amazed by the viral success of the video as he told the BBC: "The reaction to the video has been crazy. I didn’t expect it to be so popular."

The Premier Inn's official account responded in the comments of the TikTok video and said: "We be glowing." A spokesperson for the hotel chain later added: "There’s no need to search the skies, Premier Inn is a beacon of light and can bring the aurora glow directly to your room, without needing a camera to see it."

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