The Northern Lights could be seen this evening as a new storm warning was issued

The Met Office has released a fresh space weather forecast which indicates that the Northern Lights could once again be visible in parts of the UK on the evening of Monday 20 May. So it’s time to keep your eyes open as the sun goes down tonight. .

Earlier this month, the lights put on a stunning display, throwing bright green and pink waves across nearly the entire country’s night sky. According to the Met Office, there is the possibility of G1 and G2 storms – the scale went up to G5 for the spectacular displays earlier this month.

The forecaster said: “There are currently nine sunspots on the visible disk (of the Sun). The largest region is in the southeast disk, with slight growth and strengthening at its intermediate points and a moderately complex magnetic structure. The group of sunspots located near the central disk in the southern hemisphere has remained largely unchanged, although it maintains a somewhat complex magnetic configuration. A region in the southwest indicated weak development, with some growth and consolidation of its intermediate patches. The other sunspot regions are generally smaller, simpler stables.

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“A large Southern Hemisphere filament (plasma arc) takeoff that began around 18/2200UTC was modeled as missing below Earth’s orbit. Another large filament flare observed in the northwest has not yet been analyzed for any potential Earth-directed. component, but given its location, this is probably unlikely. Otherwise, no Earth-bound CMEs have been observed in the past 24 hours.”

Full brightness is also predicted to return in about 10 or 11 days, when the erupting area of ​​the sun’s surface rotates back toward Earth. The northern lights are caused by the interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and solar wind particles, which are released during eruptions of mass and energy from the Sun’s surface.

During periods of intense solar activity, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, the aurora borealis can appear more vibrant and can be observed at lower latitudes.

Natural light shows are caused by the interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and particles traveling from the Sun, forming fascinating displays in our night sky. The Met Office Space Weather Center announced on Monday: “An improvement in the aurora may occur on Monday night (20-21 May) following the possible arrival of a coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun late on Friday 17 May.

“Following any arrival aurora the CME may become visible where skies are clear in parts of Scotland and Northern Ireland, with a slight chance of aurora views also possible from northern England and north Wales. Following this auroral activity is expected to decline, although confidence is lower than usual and a slight improvement in the aurora at times cannot be ruled out.”

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