The Northern Lights may be visible to the naked eye this evening

Night skies across the UK are set to light up tonight in a ‘once in a lifetime’ astral event.

The aurora borealis may be visible to the naked eye due to a powerful solar storm that will hit Earth Friday night into Saturday morning.

In recent days, the sun has launched massive clouds of charged particles toward Earth, events known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs). When they hit Earth’s magnetic field, they will ignite the Northern Hemisphere’s northern lights.

CMEs are currently too far from Earth to make accurate forecasts, but many experts believe the strength of the storm will lead to a stunning display of the Aurora Borealis across the UK, including Cornwall.

The Met Office says: “Several Earth-bound coronal mass ejections (CMEs) were observed leaving the sun between 8 and 9 May.

“Due to the different speeds of the various CMEs, they are expected to combine into one larger arrival late on Friday, May 10 or early Saturday, May 11.

“Where the sky is clear and with a sufficiently dark sky, observations are expected to develop after the arrival of the CME in the northern half of the UK, with the chance that the aurora will become visible in all parts of the UK and at similar geomagnetic latitudes.

“Increased activity is expected to persist but at reduced levels through the night of May 11-12 (Saturday to Sunday).

“Aurora activity could remain enhanced after this, given the potential for new Earth-directed CMEs in the coming days.”

The US government, however, issued a warning that the solar storm could destroy communications, the power grid and navigation.

America’s official Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) warned: “Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth’s surface, potentially disrupting communications, power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.

“SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so that they can take protective measures.”