Northern Lights UK: The exact time to watch the northern lights tonight as the red alert is issued

Experts have indicated the exact time to see the northern lights tonight. The Aurorawatch UK app has issued a red alert for this evening, indicating that the northern lights are expected to be visible across much of the UK again.

Stargazers were stunned last night when the celestial display was seen across the country, even reaching southern regions around midnight. With another round of solar activity on the horizon, there is a buzz of excitement for what could be another spectacular show.

Professor Mathew Owens shared his thoughts on X earlier today, stating: “And as we all collectively take a deep breath, a reminder that there are a few more CMEs on the way for tonight! Although it’s unlikely to be as impressive as last night’s show.”

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are significant releases of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona.

The mesmerizing dance of pink and green lights was visible not only in the UK but also in parts of Europe after an “extreme” geomagnetic storm increased their visibility, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported (NOAA), reports Wales Online.

Tonight’s display is expected to be less intense than the previous one, but still worth watching. For the best viewing experience, watch the sky after 11pm, with the potential for the lights to remain until about 2am.

Chris Snell, a meteorologist at the Met Office, confirmed that the aurora borealis had been spotted “top to tail across the country”. He noted: “It is difficult to fully predict what will happen in the Earth’s atmosphere, but there will still be increased solar activity this evening so the lights could be visible again in northern parts of the UK, including in Scotland, Northern Ireland and further afield. the north of England”.

Mr Snell also noted that Friday night brought sightings to various parts of Europe, with the Met office receiving reports and images from Prague and Barcelona. For those keen to catch a glimpse of the aurora on Saturday, he suggests finding a spot away from light pollution and using a quality camera, saying: “The best chance you have of seeing the lights is if you’re away from the lights and street areas. with a lot of light pollution, because any kind of light has a big effect.”

He added a note about the challenges posed by the time of year, saying: “Also, at this time of year, we’re struggling with shorter nights, so they’re unlikely to be visible until around 10pm :30 or 11:00. “the hour when it gets really dark.”

While residents of southern Britain may consider it less likely to see the aurora on Saturday, Mr Snell did not rule out the possibility, particularly for those equipped with powerful camera lenses. Meanwhile, Paul Norris, 47, from Allerton Bywater in West Yorkshire, expressed his surprise at the phenomenon, commenting that seeing the lights was “not what we would expect on the outskirts of Leeds”.

He shared: “My wife Emma and I woke up our eldest daughter Phoebe (12) to see them. It might be a once in a lifetime experience, it’s definitely my first time seeing them. I spent about an hour watching them move across the sky.”

In Thorngumbald, East Yorkshire, local resident Sarah Sharpe expressed her joy at witnessing the aurora, saying: “It was really spectacular, probably a once in a lifetime experience for me. I’ve been waiting to see the Northern Lights for a while. very long time. A dream come true to see such a fantastic show.”

A G5 geomagnetic storm, which is the highest level of solar storm, hit Earth on Thursday, caused by a “large and complex” group of sunspots that was 17 times the diameter of Earth, NOAA reported.

The last occurrence of a G5 storm was more than two decades ago in October 2003, leading to power cuts in Sweden, as Professor Carole Haswell explained on BBC Radio 4’s Today program on Saturday morning.

Professor Haswell, Head of Astronomy at the Open University, highlighted the impact of solar storms on modern technology: “Many of the satellites communicate using radio signals and all these charged particles speeding by disrupt the radio signals, especially GPS which is used by aircraft . can be interrupted so it can cause navigation problems, cause satellite outages, knock down power systems. Humans have designed some kind of redundancies into their systems so that they can really withstand this kind of space weather.”

The Energy Networks Association reassured the public, with a spokesman telling the PA news agency that Britain’s electricity grid was operating normally on Saturday morning despite the solar storm. Professor Haswell also shed light on the science behind the mesmerizing colors of the aurora, explaining: “The green comes from oxygen which is about 80 to 250 miles above the earth’s surface.”

“The purple and the blue and the pink come from the nitrogen and when you get a really bright aurora sometimes you see a kind of crimson red and that comes from the oxygen that’s higher up in the earth’s atmosphere at about 180 miles.”

Auroras are a spectacular natural phenomenon where charged particles collide with atmospheric gases near the Earth’s magnetic poles, creating stunning light displays. In the Northern Hemisphere, they are often seen in the “aurora oval,” which spans latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.

When the activity is particularly strong, this area expands, which is why we can sometimes see displays as far south as the UK.