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National
Kali Lindsay

Rare Northern Lights 'red alert' issued as next three nights are expected to have amazing displays

The Northern Lights were captured in all their glory over South Tyneside.

Better known for being spotted in places like Iceland and Norway, conditions were perfect on Sunday evening for seeing them over South Shields.

The phenomenon - also known as the Aurora Borealis - that is caused by electrical charges from the sun hitting Earth's atmosphere.

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Snapper Steven Lomas, who has seen the lights before, took the opportunity to take a selfie with the lights.

The Northern Lights dazzled across the UK with reports of the famous display being seen from Scotland down to Cornwall.

The Northern Lights could make an 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."

Steve Lomas took a selfie with the Northern Lights in South Shields (handout)

Lancaster University's AuroraWatch issued a rare 'red alert' for the Northern Lights at around 12.50am on Monday morning.

All of the UK had at least a 10 per cent chance of viewing the aurora last night, according to Ventusky weather maps.

The Northern Lights are caused by solar activity, according to the Met Office.

It said: "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.

"The northern lights are most active during the Equinox and Solstice in March/April and September/October."

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