Watch: Northern lights give spectacular surprise display
The northern lights were spotted across the United Kingdom on Sunday night in a surprisingly strong display.
The northern lights were spotted across the United Kingdom on Sunday night in a surprisingly strong display.
While there was an ongoing weak solar storm, the aurora ended up being visible from the Scotland's Highlands down to Cornwall.
A sudden spike in solar activity - which causes the lights - saw an aurora "red alert" issued on Sunday evening.
Luckily aurora watchers had their cameras ready to capture the stunning display.
Activity on the Sun has been increasing over the last few years and is expected to peak this year which means the aurora becomes more frequent.
Those who follow aurora activity in the UK were alerted to a sudden spike in solar activity at around 17:00 GMT on Sunday evening when a "red alert" was issued by AuroraWatch UK - an organisation from the University of Lancaster that monitors solar activity.
It was then a waiting game for those that had clear skies for darkness to fall with a camera pointed to the north.
The spike in solar activity lasted until 21:00 GMT but there were still some reports of the aurora even after that.
