Aurora borealis lights up Irish skies

The Northern Lights lit up the skies across the country last night and plenty of you managed to capture a few incredible snaps of the phenomenon.

Forecasters have warned there’s an increased chance of seeing the Northern Lights in our region due to coinciding space weather patterns.

The UK’s Met Office have said there is an increased chance of seeing the multi-coloured display over the coming weeks because of a burst of solar wind.

The British Geological Survey says the aurora is a outcome of activity on the surface of the sun, where occasionally there are large explosions, with huge amounts of charged particles thrown out into space. This hole aligns with the Earth and high-speed solar winds buffer the planet.

Did you take any pictures of the Northern Lights last night?

People living in Scotland, northern parts of England and Wales and even as far south as Norfolk were treated to the awesome light show.

Unfortunately for city-dwellers, particularly those in London, the chances of getting a clear view of the northern lights are affected by higher levels of light pollution.

The Aurora Borealis are often seen in autumn and may be visible across the United Kingdom over the next few weeks, having been heading south during the week with spectacular displays on Tuesday above northern Scotland and north west England. We’ll publish the best photographs.

‘The season of the year has an influence.

According to the US National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration this was a strong geomagnetic storm and the conditions in the skies of Ireland were flawless. Usually the spectacle can only be seen from places like Norway, Sweden, Iceland and the Arctic Circle, and if it does make its way to the United Kingdom, its only to the most northern parts of Scotland.