Aurora borealis most likely to be seen in Scotland, Northern Ireland and north of England but may be seen farther south.
The northern lights could put on a show across the UK this weekend with recent solar flares creating the potential for a “breathtaking” display.
Aurora borealis is most likely to be visible in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England. However, there is potential for the lights to be seen farther south, as in May this year, due to intense activity on the sun.
Northern lights expected to return to UK skies this weekend
A large solar flare on Thursday is behind this expected increase in space weather activity. The lights are caused by solar storms reacting with gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
Nasa’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, which constantly watches the sun, captured a huge flare – a powerful burst of energy – on Thursday.
When you can see the northern lights in the UK
The Met Office said: “Saturday night has the greatest likelihood of aurora sightings further south, across central England.”
Those keen to catch a glimpse of the shades of green and purple dancing across the sky are most likely to do so late at night, usually from 11pm onwards.
More aurora likely this year
The Sun is approaching something called “solar maximum” which is when it is most active in an 11-year cycle.
As the Sun continues in this active phase, Earth is more likely to be hit by strong geomagnetic storms, meaning there is higher chance of seeing the Aurora Borealis for the next few months.
But scientists only know if solar maximum has happened six months after the event, because they use six months of data analysing the intensity and frequency of sun spots.
Current predictions suggest we could reach solar maximum at the end of 2024 or early 2025.
