Spectacular display of aurora borealis seen by naked eye from Britain

Skygazers have been treated to another spectacular display of the Northern Lights over the skies of Britain.

An Aurora over water near Keswick in the Lake district late last night after a lot of the UK saw some northern lights after a large solar storm. Image by PA Photo Owen Humphreys

Increased solar activity meant that people in the Midlands and the North had the chance of catching the colourful phenomenon in the early hours, the Met Office said.

The celestial display of the aurora borealis is caused by eruptions on the surface of the Sun and recent activity has been unexpectedly strong.

The display came after large explosions on the Sun threw huge amounts of magnetically charged particles out into space.

The aurora borealis, or the northern lights as they are commonly known, at Castlerigg Stone Circle in the Lake District, with Blencathra and Skiddaw behind. Image by Tom White/PA Wire

This is called a coronal mass ejection (CME) and earlier this week it triggered a severe geomagnetic storm, prompting forecasters to predict possible sightings.

A CME left the Sun on Sunday and arrived at Earth in the early hours of today.

Met Office forecaster Craig Snell said: “It was the biggest solar flare that has come to earth in the last 19 to 20 years. There were reds and greens which lit up the sky.”

The best sightings were in the darkness of rural areas away from the pollution in the towns and cities.

(Press Association)