Look up tonight! Northern Lights could be visible as far south as North Wales and north Norfolk following a huge solar storm - but a cloudy night means you might struggle to see them, Met Office reveals

 They usually light up the Arctic Circle with dazzling displays, but a huge solar storm means that tonight the Northern Lights could be seen as far south as North Wales and north Norfolk.

The bad news, however, is that cloud cover is forecast for much of the UK, leaving skywatchers in northern Scotland best-placed to observe the spectacular natural phenomenon.Also known as aurora borealis, the Northern Lights are predominantly seen in high-latitude regions, so any glimpse across the UK is a rare treat for stargazers. 

The aurora appears when atoms in the Earth's high-altitude atmosphere collide with energetic charged particles from the sun, creating breathtaking colours of green with a hint of pink, red and violet.

They usually light up the Arctic Circle with dazzling displays, but a solar storm means tonight the Northern Lights could be seen as far south as North Wales and north Norfolk (stock image)

The reason people across the UK will have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights is because a Coronal Mass Ejection which left the sun on January 29 hit the Earth overnight last night

The Met Office tweeted: 'A geomagnetic storm is forecast for overnight tonight. This means an #aurora is possible'

WHAT ARE AURORAS AND WHAT TRIGGERS THE STUNNING NATURAL DISPLAYS? 

The Northern and Southern Lights are natural light spectacles triggered in our atmosphere that are also known as the 'Auroras'.

There are two types of Aurora — Aurora Borealis, which means 'dawn of the north', and Aurora Australis, 'dawn of the south.'

The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the Earth's atmosphere. 

Usually the particles, sometimes referred to as a solar storm, are deflected by Earth's magnetic field.

But during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles, including hydrogen and helium.

These collisions emit light. Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are common.It is more often seen in winter when the nights are cold, long and dark.

The reason people across the UK will have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights is because a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) which left the sun on January 29 hit the Earth overnight last night.

Its effects will continue into tonight and tomorrow, making the aurora visible along the northern horizon if skies are clear, experts said.

Those in Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland and North Wales will all have a chance of catching the spectacular display, which may even stretch as far south as north Norfolk. 

The Met Office said: 'A CME (Coronal Mass Ejection) is expected to hit Earth overnight on the 1st February, with effects continuing into 2nd February.

'This may give visible aurora (along the northern horizon if skies are clear) as far south as north Northern England and Northern Ireland, but most likely northern Scotland.'

It added in a tweet: 'A geomagnetic storm is forecast for overnight tonight. This means an #aurora is possible. 

'Whilst Northern Scotland will be best placed to see this, depending on the strength of this storm and #weather conditions it may be visible as far south as North Wales and north Norfolk.' 

After the CME hit, the Met Office's Space team tweeted that it had 'arrived at Earth overnight on the 1st Feb, with it's weak effects likely to continue through day 1 (2nd Feb) into day 2 (3rd Feb).'

However, forecasters said tonight's weather will be 'cloudy for most overnight with some rain and drizzle in places, persistent in the northwest at first.'

A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere – the area around Earth controlled by the planet's magnetic field – caused by CMEs.

Although our sun gives us life, it also frequently 'sneezes', ejecting billions of tonnes of hot plasma into space in colossal blobs of matter threaded with magnetic fields — in other words, CMEs.

It emits gigantic flares, bursts of powerful electromagnetic radiation — x-rays, gamma rays and radio bursts — accompanied by streams of highly energetic particles.

These violent solar sneezes sometimes spin outward from the sun in our direction, delivering radiation, energy and charged particles that distort and disrupt Earth's protective magnetic field (the magnetosphere) and upper atmosphere.

Also known as aurora borealis, the Northern Lights are predominantly seen in high-latitude regions, so any glimpse across the UK is a rare treat for stargazers (stock image)

When a solar storm heads our way, some of the energy and small particles can travel down the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth's atmosphere.

There, the particles interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in beautiful displays of light in the sky — the aurora, or Northern Lights. Oxygen gives off green and red light, while nitrogen glows blue and purple.

The aurora can be seen near the poles of both the northern and southern hemispheres. In the north the display is known as the aurora borealis, and in the south it is called the aurora australis.

The Northern Lights have fascinated people on Earth for centuries, but the science behind them has not always been understood.

Our planet has an invisible forcefield, the magnetosphere, which protects us from dangerous charged particles from the sun.

The magnetosphere is the area around Earth controlled by the planet's magnetic field. Science expert Marty Jopson explains: 'Whilst it shelters us, it also creates one of the most impressive phenomena on Earth — the Northern Lights.

'When the deadly solar winds meet Earth's magnetosphere, some of the charged particles get trapped, and are propelled down the Earth's magnetic field lines straight towards the poles.

'And when they reach Earth, they strike atoms and molecules in our atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of light.'

The problem is disruption to our magnetic field creates solar storms that can affect satellites in orbit, navigation systems, terrestrial power grids and data and communication networks.

'Harmful space weather has affected Earth before, but as we become increasingly reliant on systems and technologies vulnerable to the sun's outbursts, future solar impacts could be even more disruptive,' according to the European Space Agency. 

SOLAR STORMS PRESENT A CLEAR DANGER TO ASTRONAUTS AND CAN DAMAGE SATELLITES

Solar storms, or solar activity, can be divided into four main components that can have impacts on Earth:  

• Solar flares: A large explosion in the sun's atmosphere. These flares are made of photons that travel out directly from the flare site. Solar flares impact Earth only when they occur on the side of the sun facing Earth.  
• Coronal Mass Ejections (CME's): Large clouds of plasma and magnetic field that erupt from the sun. These clouds can erupt in any direction, and then continue on in that direction, plowing through solar wind. These clouds only cause impacts to Earth when they're aimed at Earth. 
• High-speed solar wind streams: These come from coronal holes on the sun, which form anywhere on the sun and usually only when they are closer to the solar equator do the winds impact Earth. 
• Solar energetic particles: High-energy charged particles thought to be released primarily by shocks formed at the front of coronal mass ejections and solar flares. When a CME cloud plows through solar wind, solar energetic particles can be produced and because they are charged, they follow the magnetic field lines between the Sun and Earth. Only charged particles that follow magnetic field lines that intersect Earth will have an impact. 

While these may seem dangerous, astronauts are not in immediate danger of these phenomena because of the relatively low orbit of manned missions.

However, they do have to be concerned about cumulative exposure during space walks.

This photo shows the sun's coronal holes in an x-ray image. The outer solar atmosphere, the corona, is structured by strong magnetic fields, which when closed can cause the atmosphere to suddenly and violently release bubbles or tongues of gas and magnetic fields called coronal mass ejections

The damage caused by solar storms 

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost.

The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing Earth's magnetic field.

Very large flares can even create currents within electricity grids and knock out energy supplies.

When Coronal Mass Ejections strike Earth they cause geomagnetic storms and enhanced aurora.

They can disrupt radio waves, GPS coordinates and overload electrical systems.

A large influx of energy could flow into high voltage power grids and permanently damage transformers.

This could shut off businesses and homes around the world. 

Source: NASA - Solar Storm and Space Weather