Why Northern Lights are appearing more and further south?

Although typically only possible to see in the north of the UK, the south of the country has also been treated with regular sightings recently, with displays spotted as far south as Kent and East Anglia.

The Northern Lights are caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun travelling millions of miles and getting caught in the Earth’s magnetic field.

These particles accelerate down towards the north and south poles into the atmosphere, which essentially heats them up and creates the effect.

The different colours in the atmosphere are caused by different gases burning as part of this process with green being characteristic of oxygen while hints of purple, blue or pink are caused by nitrogen, Royal Museums Greenwich reports.

As sightings of the Northern Lights increase, you might be wondering why it's even visible in the south of the UK.

Why are we seeing the Northern Lights more and so far south?

How far the Northern Lights can be seen depends on the display of coronal mass ejection, as Prof Jim Wild from Lancaster University shares with the BBC.

He explained: "The bigger the coronal mass ejection from the Sun, the wider the area around the poles in which particles enter the atmosphere."

He adds that means when the auroras have a bigger ejection, they will be possible to be seen in lower latitudes, sharing that "they have been seen as far south as the Caribbean."

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Will the Northern Lights be visible in the UK tonight?

Why have Aurora Borealis sightings increased this year?

Krista Hammond, a Manager at the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC), explains: "Activity on the sun, and in particular the number of visible sunspots, varies over roughly 11 years, known as the solar cycle."

She adds: "Over the coming years, as we continue towards the solar maximum, we can expect to see an increase in the frequency of space weather events, with more chances to see the Aurora Borealis over the UK."