A local resident in Sheffield has uploaded a video showing the Northern Lights display seen last Friday, 24 March, with many other sightings being recorded across the UK.
Harry Lyons, 28, a recent Physics PhD graduate, had been surprised to find the Northern lights, known as Aurora Borealis, so far from their usual artic hangout when it appeared in North England last week.
He said: “Photographing the Aurora has always been on my bucket list but I always assumed I would need a trip to Iceland.”
Mr Lyons described the event as taking place throughout most of the night, but peaking during the period from midnight to 2:00am on Friday morning.
The hobbyist astrophotographer thanked aurorawatchuk for tweeting a red alert warning for an aurora sighting being likely. On discovering this, Mr Lyons set up his camera in the hopes of catching the display.
However, he claimed he would not have been able to see the wonder without the help of his equipment.
Mr Lyons added: “With my eyes I could see a very faint glow in the green areas, but nowhere near what the camera could pick up.
“Being able to do it from home was very exciting. Seeing some of the colours and pillars of light show up on the camera was quite magical, for sure.”
Other sightings of the northern lights have taken place across the UK, with shots taken on the Yorkshire coasts, for example. There have even been glimpses of the aurora as far south as Hampshire.
As for poor visibility, Mr Lyons claimed the light pollution in Sheffield left much still to be seen, as the steel city lights blocked out the night sky.
Mr Lyons said: “You would stand a much better chance at a dark sky sight in Scotland, Wales, Norfolk, or Northumbria, where your view to the North is as dark as possible and your eyes can really adjust to dim light.
“North England is unfortunately one of the most spread-out, light-polluted spots on the planet.”
