Northern lights shimmer over Great Britain in breathtaking photos

The Northern Lights have once again splashed brilliant colors across the British night sky, with stunning images captured across the country.

The lights, also called the aurora borealis, were expected to only be seen as far south as the Midlands, but according to BBC Weather, Wednesday evening marked the strongest and most widespread appearance of the phenomenon in Britain since May.

As solar activity wanes, it may still be possible in some northern areas to see the lights on Friday, but elsewhere the chances are slim, said Simon King, the BBC's chief weather presenter.

BBC Weather Watchers“Readers and viewers sent in almost 5,000 photos of the lights – here are some of the best, as well as some agency images and snaps shared with the BBC on social media.

Mr King said the Northern Lights were visible across the UK and as far as continental Europe “following an extreme geomagnetic storm – G5”, the highest on the scale of 1 to 5.

“From around 7pm BST,” he said, many people were able to see the northern lights. It then “weakened slightly at times before coming back even stronger around midnight and lasting until dawn on Friday.”

Meteorologists recommend using a long exposure camera to capture the northern lights because the phenomenon is not always visible to the naked eye.

However, many people reported being able to see some of the colors with the naked eye further south.

“What used to be a once-in-a-lifetime event for people in the UK – or a trip to the Arctic Circle on their bucket list – has become increasingly common in recent years,” Mr King said.

Auroras occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere around the magnetic poles.

When they collide, light is emitted in different wavelengths, creating colorful lights in the sky.

The auroras are most commonly observed over high polar latitudes and are primarily influenced by geomagnetic storms created by activity on the Sun.

The UK saw more northern lights in 2024 than in recent years.

BBC chief weather presenter Simon King said the increase in sightings in Britain was helped by the sun reaching a “maximum” in its 11-year solar cycle.

He said: “During this maximum, the number of sunspots increases, resulting in more coronal mass ejections that send charged particles towards Earth, creating the aurora.”

“Given the overall high activity on the Sun with many sunspots, there is a high probability that more of these coronal mass ejections will be directed towards Earth in the coming months.”

However, experts say that while it will still be possible to see the Northern Lights in the UK once the sun has passed its peak, stargazers should expect a “gradual decline” in visibility.

According to Sean Elvidge, professor of space environment at the University of Birmingham, the auroras were particularly visible in 2024 due to the largest geomagnetic storm since 2003.

Craig Snell, a weather forecaster at the Met Office, said a solar storm caused a strong solar flare on Wednesday arrived in our atmosphere on Thursday evening.

He said the intensity of the lights would diminish as the evening progressed, but the lights could be captured at different times throughout the night.