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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
National
James Holt

Easyjet pilot does 360 turn to give all passengers a glimpse of 'incredible' Northern Lights on flight to Manchester

An easyJet pilot turned 360 degrees over the ocean on Monday night (February 27) to give all passengers on board a chance to see the 'incredible' Northern Lights.

Pictures taken by a passenger on the flight, which was returning to Manchester Airport from Reykjavik, capture the stunning hues of green, purple and pink across the sky.

The news follows an announcement from the Met Office, alerting Britons of the best places to see the Northern Lights on Monday, with northern areas of England in with a chance due to the higher likeliness of 'transitory cloud breaks'.

READ MORE Northern Lights on show tonight as Met Office confirms best chances of spotting them

Photographer Adam Groves, who had returned from an engagement weekend away in Iceland, said: "We had been half expecting them as the aurora forecast was high, but low cloud cover in Iceland over the past week meant we didn’t see them from land. We were hoping to see them while we were out there but didn’t get the chance.

Northern Lights captured on EasyJet flight to Manchester (@aptgroves)

"We took off and half way into the flight the pilot turned all the lights off and the view was out the left window. We were sat on the right hand side and after two to three minutes the pilot switched back and did a 360 loop around for everyone to see."

Pictures taken on board the flight show excited passengers peering out of the window, as Adam, who goes by @aptgroves quickly captured the beautiful shots.

The flight path was also recorded by FlightRadar, showing the route over the ocean, and the exact spot where the plane loops in the air.

Northern Lights occur as a direct result of solar activity colliding with the Earth's atmosphere. According to the Met Office, the best weather conditions to see the Lights are when the 'sky is dark and clear of any clouds'. They are most active during the Equinox and Solstice in March/April and September/October.

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