The Northern Lights are to be visible for much of the UK for the next few weeks, because of a strange quirk of space weather.
People in the north of England and Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland are in with a higher chance of seeing the phenomenon, according to the Met Office. But it may come even further south at times.
The best way to see the lights is to head somewhere as dark and away from light pollution as possible. Visibility will be better further north.
The extra visibility is caused by a burst of solar wind coming from a "coronal hole" in the Sun, which is in line with the worth and is shooting solar winds at the planet. That has combined with the time of year to make the Northern Lights extra visible.
A Met Office spokesman said: "We are now in a period, lasting a few weeks, where these two factors are working together to increase the chances of geomagnetic disturbances, which in turn bring with them the aurora.
Pretty mental, this. The Northern Lights over Inverness tonight.
Pic: Michael Carver #northernlights #scotland pic.twitter.com/zDJhZHH5NP
— gareth brooks (@mrgarethbrooks) October 7, 2015
"The strength of the disturbance directly relates to how far south the aurora is visible, or how far north if you are in the southern hemisphere, and of course you need clear skies to see it.
Just had the most magical of nights, #aurora hunting in #Lanark. By far the best display I've ever seen in Scotland! pic.twitter.com/Q1qy0TctWd
— Stuart Stevenson (@StevensonStuart) October 8, 2015
"The season of the year has an influence. The science behind this is not fully understood, but the two equinoctial periods in spring and autumn tend to produce an increase in aurora compared with winter and summer."
The lights will be spreading from the very north of the world all the way down, so will be visible in the north of the US and potentially across Europe too.
Comment: This phenomenon is not such a "strange quirk of space weather" that will last "a few weeks." The Aurora Borealis, so called 'Northern lights' have been observed heading a lot further 'south' recently, providing a 'rare' spectacle even in the most southerly parts of England during the summer.
While the Aurora Australis, or the 'Southern lights' have been seen further north in New Zealand than usual. Researchers have also recently identified increased electrical activity moving towards equatorial regions.
Aurorae occur when charged solar particles reach local magnetic field lines, where they enter the planetary atmosphere and excite its atoms and molecules. As they deactivate, the particles produce light emission.
With the increasing comet/volcanic dust loading of the atmosphere (an indicator of this dust loading is the intensification of noctilucent clouds we are witnessing) which is accentuating electric charge build-up, we can expect to observe more awesome light shows and other phenomena.
The winning Electric Universe model, and much more related information, are explained in the book Earth Changes and the Human Cosmic Connection by Pierre Lescaudron and Laura Knight-Jadczyk.