Aurora lights up the north

Stunning pictures of aurora borealis from Dundee

Published 7th Mar 2016

Images courtesy of Bruce Duncan @bruceduncan

Stargazers across the UK were treated to a dazzling display of the Northern Lights on Sunday evening.

The aurora borealis was visible as far south as Oxfordshire as skies cleared, painting the night sky with shades of green, purple and blue.

The ethereal spectacle is caused by charged solar particles interacting with the Earth's magnetic field and is usually only visible in the far north of Scotland.

A lucky combination'' of conditions in the lower atmosphere and in space meant the phenomenon was visible across swathes of the country, Met Office space weather adviser Amanda Townsend said.

Once in a while the solar winds are enhanced to levels stronger than normal, with particles at higher speeds, and on this occasion it has connected really well with the Earth's magnetic field.''

In addition to the cosmic weather being just right, conditions closer to the ground favoured those who ventured out into the cold March night.

Many took to social media to share their photos of the Northern Lights, these pictures from Bruce Duncan from Dundee on twitter showing the lights north of the city last night.