The majestic northern lights, or aurora borealis, are a spectacular dancing and flickering multi-coloured light show in the night sky. They are a common feature of the Arctic and far north, but viewers in Britain must be looking at exactly the right time to be lucky enough to see them. Now is the best time for ten years to see the aurora in Britain. Aurora were seen all across Britain earlier this year on 6 April, and there should be more to come.
Auroral displays are one of the most beautiful of all natural phenomena.
AuroraWatch UK will ensure that you don't miss out on the next British auroral light show. Dr Ian Mann, Head of the Magnetospheric Physics Group at the University of York. Launched on 19th September 2000, AuroraWatch UK offers unique real-time monitoring of the magnetic variations which accompany aurorae. Intense aurora displays are generated following massive explosions on the sun, known as coronal mass ejections. These explosions release clouds of hot plasma, containing billions of tons of material travelling at around 2 million miles per hour, into the solar wind.