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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Daniel Morrow

Northern Lights visible in Scotland tonight after solar storm - exact time to see it

Scots will be able to catch another glimpse of the Northern Lights this evening, according to forecasters.

A strong geomagnetic storm from the sun arrived on Earth last night, which meant that thousands of Scots were treated to the night sky spectacle overnight.

Hues of green and purple were spotted as far south as Dumfries and Galloway, with some northern England being treated to the phenomenon on Wednesday.

It looks like more could be on the way this evening and could even last into the little hours of Friday.

Krista Hammond from the Met Office said: “As was predicted by the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre, a coronal mass ejection impacted with the Earth yesterday.

The Northern Lights are expected to visible over Scotland tonight (@amaroxlea/Twitter)

“The resulting strong geomagnetic storm meant the Northern Lights were visible across large areas of the UK overnight last night.

“We’ve had reports that the aurora could even be seen in some central areas of the UK, which is possible when a storm of this magnitude impacts the Earth.

“Further geomagnetic storms are possible tonight and into the early hours of tomorrow morning, due to ongoing effects of the coronal mass ejection.”

But Scots have been warned that the weather may not be on their side this evening.

The meteorologist added: “This means there is the potential for further sightings of the Northern Lights overnight, although there will be spells of patchy cloud over Scotland which could limit visibility in places.”

A Met Office ‘space weather notification’ remains in place for the Geomagnetic Storm from this evening to last until 1am during the early hours of Friday.

The Aurora Borealis take their name from Aurora (the Roman goddess of dawn) and Boreas (the Greek name for north wind), the lights are caused by solar activity.

Charged particles in the solar wind collide with the earth's magnetic field, which pulls them north and south to the poles.

This means that Scotland is one of the best places in Europe outwith Scandinavia to see them.

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