Stargazers have caught a glimpse of the northern lights in London, with a beautiful light display spotted in places such as Hyde Park and Alexandra Palace.
The aurora borealis splashed vivid colours over the capital on Thursday night, with bright red and green lights seen in the sky.
Londoners quickly rushed out of their doors to snap stunning pictures of the rare phenomenon - with some reporting seeing “the sky dance” in the early hours of the morning.
They didn’t hang around for long, but caught a glimpse of the northern lights for a second time this year over Hyde Park, London #aurora #auroraborealis #hydepark #London pic.twitter.com/qDdgC8CVeU
— Rob (@robjdphotos) October 10, 2024
The #northernlights over London, UK taken from my balcony in South London #aurora #Auroraborealis pic.twitter.com/FfNtcWekNq
— Anthony Mayatt (@BreatheFitness) October 11, 2024
it's pretty rare to see #northernlights in London, but we got twice this year 💪🏼 pic.twitter.com/kUJOsXYEeG
— ❄️OnAwa❄️ (@delulupikachu) October 11, 2024
Ive never seen the sky dance like this before!! From north London #onwx #onstorm #northernlights #aurora pic.twitter.com/vZ3gS5xy9J
— odawg (@odawg1019) October 11, 2024
The Met Office had previously said a severe solar storm heading for Earth means the aurora borealis could be visible across parts of the UK for several nights.
The forecaster said in a post on X said: “A coronal mass ejection from the sun is earth bound and whilst there’s some uncertainty on its arrival time, sightings of the #aurora are likely in northern areas with a slight chance in the south too.”
They shared a graphic of the lights projected over parts of the country on Thursday and Friday.
Look north in the coming nights and you may spot the #NorthernLights 👀
— Met Office (@metoffice) October 10, 2024
A coronal mass ejection from the sun is earth bound and whilst there's some uncertainty on its arrival time, sightings of the #aurora are likely in northern areas with a slight chance in the south too pic.twitter.com/DPlXcPd1pM
It suggested the lights would be strongest at around 10pm on Thursday and between 10pm and 11pm on Friday.
The aurora borealis appear as large areas of colour including pale green, pink, shades of red, yellow, blue and violet in the direction due north. They are best seen in darkness, away from any light pollution.
Hopes of another stunning display being visible for Londoners follows rare sightings of the phenomenon in May and August.
The Northern Lights were seen in London in August as the Perseid meteor shower put on dazzling display across the UK.
Those lucky enough to see the phenomenon in the capital said that it was more visible when viewed through the cameras on their phones.
According to the Met Office, the Northern Lights are usually best witnessed in Scotland, northern England, North Wales and Northern Ireland.
However, under certain space weather conditions – a particularly strong geomagnetic storm – they can be seen throughout the UK.
This was the case in May when a rare display was seen in the capital.
The natural light display is caused by charged particles from the Sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field.
The colour display depends in part on what molecules the charged particles interact with.
