Solar activity surged on New Year’s Eve, with a geomagnetic storm sending bursts of energy – charged particles – towards Earth.
They finally entered our atmosphere on Wednesday evening, where interactions with oxygen and nitrogen produce the vivid colors of the aurora.
Oxygen atoms glow green – a color often seen in the Northern Lights.
Nitrogen atoms emit purple, pink and red.
Because it is a particularly strong geomagnetic storm, the Northern Lights travel further from the poles to lower latitudes in the UK.
Forecasters from the Met Office Space Weather Center suggest that with another burst of charged particles reaching Earth at the end of the week, there will be another chance to see the Northern Lights.
Cloud enabled of course.