Stargazers in the UK could be treated to a spectacular display of the Northern Lights tonight.
A solar flare erupting from the Sun is set to provide a nice opportunity to see the Northern Lights this week.
Based on a Met Office space weather forecast, there is a chance of minor/moderate geomagnetic storms on July 20.
This means that there is a possibility that the Northern Lights could be visible in the UK, particularly in Scotland, northern England, and Northern Ireland.
The best time to see the Northern Lights is usually between 10pm and midnight, when the sky is darkest.
The auroral oval, the region in the Earth’s atmosphere where the auroras are most likely to occur, is expected to be rather weak and close to background levels initially.
A recent ‘cannibal’ Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) may give the Earth a glancing blow during the daylight hours of July 20.
In the Northern Hemisphere, this gives a ‘reasonable confidence’ of aurora sightings across the whole of Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England where skies are clear.
Similarly, in the Southern Hemisphere, the CME will increase the chance of aurora sightings as far as Tasmania and the south of New Zealand.
However, viewing opportunities are expected to be limited due to short hours of darkness at this time of year.
Typically a rare sight over the UK – and even rarer south of the Scottish highlands – the natural phenomenon has been making quite a few appearances in the country recently.
Over the past year, social media has been littered with stunning photos of auroras as Brits have experienced the rare sightings.
The Northern Lights were unusually seen as far south as Cornwall – and it looks like we could be experiencing even more.
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