Lucky viewers from across Cumbria were treated to a spectacular Northern Lights display on Sunday night.
Clear skies allowed for pictures of the display to be captured all along the coast in West Cumbria and out towards Keswick, Penrith and surrounding areas.
On Sunday night, the Met Office tweeted: “A coronal hole high-speed stream arrived this evening combined with a rather fast coronal mass ejection leading to Aurora sightings across the UK.”
The forecaster also said there is a chance of seeing the aurora again in the coming nights.
A Met Office spokesperson said: “It’s not particularly unusual for the aurora to be seen at the latitudes around Cumbria. The clarity of it on Sunday night however was a little unusual as several factors aligned such as low moon light, clean air and low cloud.
“There is still a chance that we’ll continue to see some Northern Lights activity. However, there are a couple of issues for people hoping to catch the spectacle
“We are past the peak in terms of solar activity, so any display is not going to be as impressive as previous days and much of the UK will be affected by cloudy conditions, so north west Scotland looks most promising
“It is not beyond possibility that the odd break in the cloud may yield a sighting, but for these reasons it will be much harder to gain a good view.”
Cumbria House, a self-catering accommodation based in Keswick, were lucky enough to capture some stunning shots from Ashness Jetty on Derwentwater.
Ruth Burgess, who works for the firm and caught the aurora on camera, said: “It was at around 9.30pm on Sunday a friend let me know that there was a red aurora alert as the skies were clear.
“I raced down to Ashness Jetty on Derwentwater and by eye there was more of a faint green glow on the horizon, with some red hints higher up. But with a 20 second exposure, my camera revealed what was hidden to the naked eye.
“It was completely still on the lake and I could hear a pair of tawny owls calling to each other. It was just beautiful and well worth being out, even without the aurora!.”
Ruth added that she recommended those keen to see the lights download an app called Aurora Watch UK to keep up with alerts.
Becx Carter, who photographed the lights from her home said: “It was a great bit of magic on a Sunday evening to see them from Keswick!”
Linda Davison, of Haile, also captured some incredible shots of the aurora on Sunday night.
She said: “I had gone to bed to watch the cricket – the test match against NZ – but recieved notifications from an app called AuroraWatch that an aurora was ongoing.
“Despite the cold night, I got myself back up but only ventured into the garden just to see how things were looking.
“I was amazed to see red pillars by eye and watched them moving slowly across the northern sky so I quickly set up my camera and tripod.
“I used a Sony A7ii with a 20mm lens at f/2 and a shutter speed of 20 seconds at ISO 640, running a time lapse so as not to miss any of the action!”
The lights were spotted all across the UK – including in the likes of Cornwall, where sightings are classed as extremely rare.
The Met Office said this was likely due to the strength of the geomagnetic storm and the strip of cloudless skies in southern regions.
The Northern lights – also known as aurora borealis, are an interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and charged particles emitted by the sun. The sun has its own solar wind that sends out charged particles. These particles then spiral around Earth’s magnetic field.
Did you spot the aurora? We’d love to feature your pictures! Email them to us at admin@cumbriacrack.com
