Last night (May 10), Greater Manchester was treated to a beautiful display of the Northern Lights, with a chance of it returning again this weekend. It can be quite rare for the Aurora Borealis to reach this part of the country, as well as have good enough visibility to be seen with the naked eye and low light pollution levels.
The Northern Lights lit up the majority of the skies across the UK including Greater Manchester due to the Earth experiencing the strongest solar storm recorded in over 20 years. This is due to there being naturally more sunspots on the Sun’s surface, which have a number of solar flares and complex Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs). With more of them at the moment, there’s a greater chance of more frequent and strong auroral activity.
The Northern Lights illuminated the Greater Manchester region, including the city centre and even areas of lower altitude, plus out towards higher points like Rivington, Werneth Low and Holcombe Hill, to name a few. However, for those who may have missed it last night there is a chance that we may be able to see the once-in-a-lifetime display tonight (May 11) too.
How can I see the Northern Lights in Greater Manchester tonight?
According to The Met Office: “Activity should slowly decline on 11 May, but will remain enhanced in the coming days with aurora still likely to be seen from the northern half of the UK at times and potentially further south again. The forecast is liable to change with the likelihood of further Earth-directed CMEs occurring.”
Clear skies like the ones on Friday night made Northern Lights sightings possible from almost everywhere in the UK, therefore we would need the same or similar conditions tonight. Although aurora activity may not be as visible as on the evening of May 10, the geomagnetic storm is still expected to be in the “strong” category, however you will need to wait until at least 10.30pm for it to be dark enough to see it.
At this time of year, when nights are shorter, 11.30pm into the early hours of the morning is when the night is at its darkest. However, the activity of the lights itself is more unpredictable, the Met Office says, so expect it to ebb and flow with different colours in different places at different times.
But it’s not just the UK who are enjoying the fun either, as the Northern Lights are expected to be visible across all of Canada and even reach several US states, including New York. Be sure to look to the sky if there are no clouds and make certain to steer clear of light pollution, such as street lamps.