Brits capture Northern Lights as rare phenomenon hits UK

Social media has been lit up by Brits' videos and images of the Northern Lights as the stunning phenomenon reached various parts of the UK.

The Met Office confirmed the colourful displays would be visible from some parts of England last night (27 February).

But did anyone think it was actually going to happen?

Don't get me wrong - you can trust the Met Office's predictions. But we've just had so many inaccurate Northern Lights forecasts over the years, it was surprising to see the footage all over social media this morning.

Some Brits were already lucky enough to see the aurora borealis this weekend as the conditions were just right to send the dazzling spectacle streaming across the sky.

And the same goes for last night, as rare displays were visible from parts of England too - where the natural phenomenon doesn't normally occur.

One Twitter user shared a selection of stunning images showing the pink and green lights in the sky in Dorset.

Alongside the shots, they wrote: "WOW. I never thought I would get to see the Northern Lights this far south in the UK, here in Dorset! What an incredible display at Knowlton Church tonight, absolutely unforgettable."

A coronal hole high speed stream arrived this evening combined with a rather fast coronal mass ejection leading to #Aurora sightings across the UK@MadMike123 in North Uist@Jon9tea in North Wales@paulhaworth in Cambridgeshire@alex_murison in Shropshire pic.twitter.com/8JhqxPbcFK

— Met Office (@metoffice) February 26, 2023

A legendary easyJet pilot even turned 360 degrees over the sea last night to give their passengers a glimpse of the lights as they travelled from Reykjavik to Manchester Airport.

Photographer Adam Groves shared images of the once in a lifetime moment on Twitter, writing: "Big thanks to the @easyJet pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights."

Big thanks to the @easyJet pilot of EZY1806 from Reykjavik to Manchester who did a 360 fly by mid flight to make sure all passengers could see the incredible Northern Lights 🤩 pic.twitter.com/A4CHi9Hqgo

— Adam Groves (@APTGroves) February 27, 2023

Last night's stunning shows are the result of 'another coronal mass ejection', the Met Office explained, which is the large expulsion of plasma from the sun's corona.

When these energised particles hit our atmosphere, it creates the aurora.

Billy Teets, the director of Dyer Observatory at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, explained more about the phenomenon to Space.com.

"These particles are deflected towards the poles of Earth by our planet's magnetic field and interact with our atmosphere, depositing energy and causing the atmosphere to fluoresce," he said.

"Every type of atom or molecule, whether it's atomic hydrogen or a molecule like carbon dioxide, absorbs and radiates its own unique set of colours...

"Some of the dominant colours seen in aurorae are red, a hue produced by the nitrogen molecules, and green, which is produced by oxygen molecules."