Northern Lights to be visible in the UK this week - see when

Stargazers across the country have been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights, also known as the aurora borealis, on numerous occasions already in 2024.

Brits are set to get another chance to see what is described as "one of the most spectacular displays in the night sky" this week, according to Met Office forecasts.

Best time to see the Northern Lights this week

The Northern Lights may be visible in parts of the UK overnight on Tuesday (September 10 to 11), according to the Met Office.

The Met Office Space Weather forecast reads: "A coronal mass ejection (CME) is forecast to give a glancing blow either late 10 September or early on 11 September.

"Aurora may be visible across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England and similar latitudes."

The Met Office added a "slight enhancement" was also possible overnight on Monday (September 9 to 10) due to the arrival of "a weak coronal hole high speed stream".

The forecast continued: "This perhaps bringing visible aurora to the far north of Scotland and similar latitudes where skies are clear, however this is low confidence.

Best places to see the Northern Lights in the UK this week

According to the Space Weather forecast from the Met Office, the best spots to see the Northern Lights on Monday night/Tuesday morning (September 9 and 10) will be north of Scotland.

Then on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning (September 10 and 11) there is the possibility of catching a glimpse of the picturesque display in skies across Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The colours occur due to different gases in the Earth's atmosphere being energised by the charged particles.

Nitrogen and oxygen are the two most common gases in the atmosphere, with nitrogen emitting purple, blue and pink colours and oxygen emitting green.