The Northern Lights - which were once rarely seen from the UK - may be visible again this week, according to the experts at the Met Office. The aurora borealis are set to be seen due to "ongoing fast solar winds" in the northern hemisphere and should be visible in the skies above northern Scotland this evening. The Met Office has said that any "glancing coronal mass ejections" - or CMEs - may bring a "chance of visible aurora. (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun's atmosphere.
Aurora displays only occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles. As they collide, light is emitted at various wavelengths, creating colourful displays in the sky. Remote, open areas with views of the northern horizon are best for sightings, with the lights unlikely to be visible until it gets very dark, the Liverpool Echo reports. Over the past 24 hours, solar activity has been low but this looks set to increase. In its four-day space weather forecast summary, the Met Office say that "moderate activity is likely. The Northern Lights were last visible across most of the UK in November 2024, people were lucky enough to see a spectacular display of pink and green rays as the aurora borealis filled the skies.
Social media at the time was filled with people sharing images and videos of the amazing light show which was seen much further south that it had been seen before. The Northern Lights are usually seen over Iceland, Alaska, Canada, Norway and Finland. The Met Office also says that in the southern hemisphere the periods of enhanced aurora will be seen over parts of New Zealand's south island tonight. It said "periods of enhanced aurora are possible due to ongoing fast solar winds and any glancing coronal mass ejections bringing a chance of visible aurora over southern parts of New Zealand's south island and other similar geomagnetic latitudes under clear skies".
