📷 Incredible photos of Northern Lights over Liverpool - how to see them tonight

People across the UK were given a rare glimpse of the Northern Lights as they put on a vibrant show on Sunday night. The phenomenon is usually only seen in high latitude regions closer to the Arctic such as Norway but this weekend’s blaze of the Aurora Borealis was visible as far south as Cornwall.

Liverpool and Merseyside enjoyed a particularly spectacular display at around 9pm, which left photographer Dominic Darvel speechless as he stood on Crosby Beach to capture the moment on his camera.

Looking out towards the Sefton coastline, his images show the sky lit up in green and pink over the silhouetted figure of one of Antony Gormley’s iron men from the Another Place installation.

The Met Office confirmed late on Sunday that a “coronal hole high speed stream" had combined with "a rather fast coronal mass ejection" leading to the Aurora sightings. And forecasters added that the Northern Lights are likely to be visible again in parts of the UK tonight (Monday, February 27).

What is the Aurora Borealis?

Aurora is caused by atoms and molecules in our atmosphere colliding with particles from the sun, according to Royal Museums Greenwich. The wavy patterns of light are caused by the lines of force in the Earth’s magnetic field, and the different colours are made by different gasses. The green is characteristic of oxygen, while the purple, blue or pink are caused by nitrogen.

Northern Lights on Monday, February 27

The Met Office said in a tweet shared just before 6.30pm on Sunday: "The Aurora Borealis may be visible as far south as central England tonight where skies remain clear. The Northern Lights are also likely to be seen again on Monday night."

Based on the Met Office’s map, there is a possibility that the Aurora Borealis could be visible from approximately 7pm tonight until about 4am tomorrow morning. Scotland is set to see the best display according a video map of the Northern Lights from the Met Office but it could once again reach much further south.

The further north you are, the more likely you are to see the display. If you’re on Twitter, @aurorawatchuk is worth a look - the account is run by space physicists at Lancaster University who will tweet when the Aurora may be visible from the UK.

Wherever you are, the conditions need to be right - dark and clear, with as little light pollution as possible.