The Met Office has said the Northern Lights may once again be visible from the UK. The dazzling phenomenon has already lit up skies above the country a number of times over the past twelve months.
And as 2025 begins, there could be another showing, depending on where you live. The Aurora Watch app has also said it is likely the lights will be visible by both eye and camera, from anywhere in the UK.
In its space weather forecast, the Met Office said: “A coronal mass ejection (CME) arrival is expected on 1st Jan, with Minor/Moderate storm likely, with a slight chance of Strong storm.” Unlike Aurora Watch, however, the Met Office anticipates a “chance of visible aurora across northern Scotland, perhaps southern Scotland and Northern Ireland dependant on cloud cover.”
Aurora Watch has issued a red alert
(Image: Aurora Watch)
Its forecast adds that the possible visibility may last until the early hours of Thursday, January 2, before “geomagnetic activity then is expected to gradually decline to background levels.”
The lights – or Aurora Borealis to give them their proper name – have become a fairly regular display this year but have until recently been seen very rarely in the UK by most people.
They can be seen when charged particles hit gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles. For our purposes, most of the activity in the northern hemisphere happens in a band known as the aurora oval. This covers latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.
This expands to cover a larger area when activity is strong. Sky News reported earlier this year that we are in a period where people in the UK are more likely to see the Northern Lights.
Their website stated : “We are currently near the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, with high solar activity giving an increased chance of seeing the Northern Lights. The current peak is expected to last until mid-2025, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.”