AuroraWatch UK has issued a red alert, indicating the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights. The warning was issued on Sunday. Stargazers may have the opportunity to see the Northern Lights tonight.
The Northern Lights are usually most visible from 11 p.m. onwards. Sightings often occur in the early hours of the morning. This phenomenon usually occurs in high latitude regions.
The colourful glow is caused by solar wind interacting with the earth’s magnetic field. These particles combine with oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere. This creates a multicoloured flash of light.
In the UK, the Northern Lights can often be seen in Scotland, but they are rarely observed in southern England. If it is a very strong solar flare, the charged particles can travel further away from the poles to mid-latitudes, such as southern England. So, on Monday evening, we may well see the Northern Lights again, provided the sky is clear.
The sun goes through an 11-year cycle, measured by the activity of its magnetic field. The last solar minimum was in 2020, so activity on the sun has been increasing since then, and it is currently the most active it has been since 2014. Solar activity is expected to peak this year, so more frequent displays of the aurora are likely in the near future.
