10 of the most awe-inspiring pictures of the Northern Lights as aurora borealis visible over UK

Large parts of the UK enjoyed the amazing sight of the Northern Lights in the skies overnight with a number of people sharing their stunning snaps on social media .

Otherwise known as aurora borealis , the Northern Lights are caused by energised particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth 's atmosphere and events like solar storms in this instance have contributed to the vivid colours in the sky.

The Northern Lights have been seen a lot more across the UK this year because activity from the sun has heightened.

A forecast posted from the Met Office on October 10 said there is the chance for the lights to be visible across the UK again on the night of October 11 and into the early hours of October 12.

Northern areas again will have the best chance of seeing them but given how most of the UK enjoyed the lights on October 10/11 too, it's worth keeping an eye on the skies overnight to see if they return.

And those that do manage to see it shouldn't be disappointed as a number of social media users shared their stunning pictures of the Northern Lights overnight online.

One man from Wakefield also managed to capture a shooting star when photographing the lights.

Another from England captured what they described as "the best picture I've ever taken".

A stunning shot of them was captured in Edinburgh.

One person captured the lights as far south as Jersey.

They were spotted across London too.

The Northern Lights were seen in Ireland as well.

Another person captured them in the skies above Edinburgh.

They were captured above the Lovell Telescope at Jodrell Bank Observatory.

A stunning picture was captured at Sunderland airport.

And this great picture of a lake in the shape of a love heart being illuminated by the lights was taken in Wales.

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