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Daily Record
Daily Record
National
Matt Atherton & Jacob Rawley

Northern Lights to return over Scotland as stunning pictures capture spectacle

Last night Scots had a chance to catch the Northern Lights, but those who missed out may still have a chance to catch the spectacle.

Appearing in the late hours of Sunday, April 23 into the early hours of Monday, April 24, a strong and dazzling aurora could be seen. The Mirror shared a number of images taken by keen sky watchers, showing Northern Lights lights dancing through the night sky.

And while the late-night light show was a rare occurrence, the Met Office has said that Scots might be able to see the lights again tonight.

AuroraWatch, run by Lancaster University, issued a rare 'red alert' for the Northern Lights at about 12.50am on Monday morning. Many snapped pictures of the iconic light display, which was visible across the UK in a rare widespread appearance.

The lights were visible in Scotland (@seang_23/Twitter via Mirror)

The Northern Lights could make appearance again as soon as tonight, according to the Met Office Space Weather forecast.

The national weather service reports: "The coming three-day period should see an increasing chance of visible aurora, especially so from the early hours UTC of Monday 24 April, whereupon a large CME is forecast to arrive.

"The aurora is likely to be visible given favourable viewing conditions from central and northern areas of the UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes. There is a slight chance that southern UK may see auroral displays."

North Scotland is the most likely place to spot the Northern Lights (@MetRyan96/Twitter via Mirror)

The Northern Lights are caused by solar activity and are best seen in dark conditions facing the northern horizon.

The Met Office says: "The Northern Lights occur as a consequence of solar activity and result from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

"The best conditions to view the lights are when the sky is dark and clear of any clouds. Cloud cover ultimately blocks the view of the light.

"Ideally, the lights will be best viewed away from any light pollution, in remote areas, facing the northern horizon - north-facing coasts produce some of the best viewing locations."

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