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The National (Scotland)
The National (Scotland)
National
Adam Robertson

Will the Northern Lights be visible across Scotland tonight?

THE Northern Lights could be visible across Scotland on Saturday night with a new yellow warning was issued detailing minor geomagnetic activity.

The phenomenon is caused by the sun which has been very active recently as it hits an 11-year peak.

People in Scotland were left in awe last weekend when they witnessed the display in clear skies, but have been warned this could be the best things get for a while.

The app Aurorawatch UK has issued a yellow warning at 7am on Saturday which could mean another bright night.

This is for minor geomagnetic activity, meaning there is a small chance it could happen.

However, the same service put out an amber alert for Friday night and some people were left disappointed as they were left unable to see anything. 

The app said: “Aurora is likely to be visible by eye from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland; possibly visible from elsewhere in the UK.

“Photographs of aurora are likely from anywhere in the UK.”

The best time to see the Northern Lights is during the hours of 9pm and midnight, although you can still see them in the early hours of the morning.

Physics professor with the University of Lancaster Jim Wild told the Daily Mirror there was a chance activity could happen in the next few days.

“The sun remains very active and it could fire another coronal mass ejection earthward at almost any time,” he said.

“At the moment, we know there is at least one more heading in our direction, but it’s not yet clear how whether it will hit Earth and if it does it’s unlikely to have as powerful an impact as the one that arrived on Friday.

“We can’t rule out more displays of the Northern Lights in the next few days, but for now it looks like last weekend’s activity was the main event.

“Events of the size we saw at the weekend typically occur every couple of decades, but that is just a measure of statistical likelihood.”

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