Astrology

Northern lights could return to UK skies between October 12 and 14

The Northern Lights could appear over parts of the UK again this week, with the Met Office pointing to a window of increased aurora activity from October 12 to 14, after the display reached as far south as Kent and Surrey early on October 11.

Sightings are considered most likely across Scotland and places at similar latitudes, provided skies stay clear, though forecasters have not ruled out another appearance further south given recent nights, according to the Essex County News report.

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What drove the weekend display#

The aurora borealis lit up skies over Dunstanburgh Castle on the Northumberland coast in the early hours of Sunday, with pictures also capturing the green and pink glow as far south as Kent and Surrey, the Independent reports.

Met Office forecaster Greg Dewhurst said the lights would likely be weaker on Sunday night, most visible across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England, before strengthening again Monday night and reaching further into central areas, according to the Independent and the Liverpool Echo.

Dewhurst added that extended-exposure photographs might reveal objects positioned incrementally further south with each passing night compared to what observers can detect with their naked eyes, the Liverpool Echo and the Independent report.

The solar activity behind the glow#

The Met Office described glancing coronal mass ejections followed by a coronal hole fast wind as the source of a daily chance of an enhanced auroral oval, with sightings possible across Scotland and perhaps northern England and Northern Ireland between October 12 and 15, Yahoo News UK reports.

The aurora forms when solar wind, charged particles from the sun, interacts with Earth's magnetic field and is funnelled toward the poles, where collisions with oxygen and nitrogen release light in green, red, blue and purple, the Met Office told the Guardian and the Independent.

The Guardian reported that sightings could continue during clear skies until Tuesday, and that such displays are mostly visible near the Arctic Circle and northern Scotland outside unusual events like this one.

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