Kicking off the start of summer, some areas of the UK were treated to a stunning aurora display last night (June 1). Spectacular hues of reds, pinks, purples, blues and greens were spotted across the skies on Sunday evening due to the aurora borealis – however Manchester may just be in with a chance of seeing the Northern Lights tonight.
The lights could also be seen in parts of America and Australia thanks to clear skies creating good visibility of the aurora borealis – or aurora australis for those in the Southern hemisphere. According to the Met Office, Earth was hit by a coronal mass ejection from the Sun on June 1, which means there is a higher chance of aurora displays.
How does an aurora display occur?
The Northern Lights (or aurora borealis) occur as a result of solar activity and from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. Depending on which gas molecules are hit and where they are in the atmosphere, different amounts of energy are released as different wavelengths of light.
According to the Met Office, “Oxygen gives off green light when it is hit 60 miles above the Earth, whilst at 100-200 miles rare, all-red auroras are produced. Nitrogen causes the sky to glow blue yet when higher in the atmosphere the glow has a purple hue.”
Will Manchester be able to see the Northern Lights tonight?
Now, the big ol’ question is whether or not the Northern Lights will be visible over Manchester tonight. The Met Office said the Northern Lights could continue throughout Monday night (June 2) into Tuesday morning (June 3).
The meteorologists said: “While aurora sightings are possible down to central parts of the UK and similar latitudes at first, they will become progressively confined northern Ireland and Scotland. Short hours of darkness may limit any viewing though.”
Although aurora activity may not be as visible as on the evening of June 1, residual geomagnetic storms are likely on Monday evening, “with aurora sightings generally confined to Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland”.
According to the aurora maps from The Met Office, the best time to see the Northern Lights in the UK is between 9pm and midnight on Monday night (June 2). The sun will set in Manchester tonight at 9.28pm and it typically takes 30 to 60 minutes after sunset for it to become fully dark, making 10.30pm a good time to potentially catch the spectacular Northern Lights.
Clear skies make Northern Lights sightings possible from almost everywhere in the UK, therefore we would need the same or similar conditions tonight. In terms of tonight’s weather forecast in the North West from the Met Office, it could turn “wet and windy overnight as a band of rain moves eastwards, clearing parts of Cumbria towards dawn”. However, visibility is looking good in Manchester today and into the night when the Northern Lights could appear, so fingers crossed!