It’s something that’s on many people’s bucket lists.
And if you’ve always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights, tonight could be your chance.
According to forecasts from the Met Office, the aurora will be visible over parts of Scotland and northern England this evening and tomorrow evening.
“There is a chance of increased aurora activity and aurora sightings across Scotland and similar latitudes until October 2 due to the possible arrival of the coronal mass ejection on September 29,” the Met Office said.
And with clear weather forecast, tonight could be a perfect opportunity to witness the stunning natural phenomena.
The Met Office predicts that the Northern Lights could be visible over parts of Scotland and northern England this evening
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are caused by the interaction between charged particles emitted by the Sun and gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.
As the sun shoots high-energy particles at the planet, they are guided to the North and South Poles by the Earth’s magnetic field.
There they collide with molecules of oxygen and nitrogen to produce the beautiful, shifting glow we recognize as the Northern Lights.
Normally this glow is only visible at extreme latitudes closer to the magnetic poles.
However, when the sun ejects a huge wave of particles in an event called ‘coronal mass ejection’, it causes the northern lights to glow so intensely that they can be seen at lower latitudes.
On September 29, the Sun unleashed a large coronal mass ejection that will hit Earth with a glancing blow sometime today.
On September 29, the Sun caused a large coronal mass ejection (pictured), which will hit Earth with a glancing blow later today.
The arrival of this wave of charged particles could make the Northern Lights visible over parts of Britain.
This enhanced aurora is expected to remain active until tomorrow, but will likely diminish until October 3.
Earlier this year, similar coronal mass ejections led to extremely bright auroras visible from as far away as Cornwall and London.
However, experts warn that tonight’s solar activity will not be great enough to bring about a repeat of these astonishing views.
A Met Office spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘I’m afraid the chances of aurora sightings this evening are not good.
When charged particles from the Sun’s coronal mass ejection hit Earth’s atmosphere, their collision will produce the colorful lights we know are visible at lower latitudes. Pictured: Northern Lights over Whitley Bay, England, May 2024
The Met Office says the best views will be across the north of Scotland, where clear skies are forecast. Pictured:
‘If they occur they will most likely be confined to the north of Scotland where skies look clearest.’
In addition to creating the Northern and Southern Lights, the arrival of the coronal mass ejection today will also cause a small to moderate geomagnetic storm.
Severe geomagnetic storms can disrupt global navigation and communications systems as parts of the upper atmosphere become electrically charged.
In extreme cases, these events can even cause electrical blackouts on Earth as the charge overloads the Earth’s power grid.
Fortunately, storms of the magnitude forecast for today will cause only very minor disruption to some satellites and high-frequency radios, according to the U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).
The Met Office spokesman added: ‘There is no evidence to suggest anything is widespread, activity levels are nothing unusual and typical for this point in the solar cycle.’
Conditions for aurora viewing are best in the north of Scotland, where conditions will remain clear and dry into the evening
For the best chances of seeing the aurora tonight, go to an area with clear skies, away from artificial light.
Even at its strongest, the aurora can often be faint over Britain, so it’s important to give your eyes enough time to adjust to the darkness.
If you’re still having trouble seeing the Northern Lights, you can try using your phone’s camera to reveal details that might be hidden from the naked eye.
During the latest burst of aurora activity over Britain, many avid sky watchers complained that photographs of the sky showed brilliant colors that were not visible to most observers.
For the best view, use your phone’s camera to capture more details. Your phone can reveal details hidden from the naked eye, like in this photo taken of the Northern Lights in Cornwall in May this year
Jake Foster, astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, previously told MailOnline: ‘With the naked eye the aurora is unlikely to look very colourful, so taking pictures of the sky with a slow shutter speed or night mode is the best way to to know if the aurora is really happening above your head.’
This is because modern phone cameras have settings that capture more light by merging dozens of dark images into one brighter image.
Mr Foster adds: ‘The longer the exposure time, the more light the camera can capture and the brighter the image will be. This is especially noticeable if you use ‘night mode’ or a similar setting on your phone’s camera.’
Luckily for anyone wanting to see tonight’s aurora, the Met Office weather forecasts are looking promising at the moment.
From 10pm tonight the Met Office is predicting dry weather and very little cloud over Scotland, which should provide excellent viewing.