Watch out for the northern lights tonight – UK could be in for a big display

Those in the UK should look northwards for the aurora tonight as the aftermath of the biggest solar flare for more than a decade continues to pummel Earth

The particle 'debris' created by a monstrously large solar flare reached Earth at around 00:00 BST last night. It sparked displays of the northern lights that were seen as far south as Edinburgh in Scotland and Arkansas in the US.

At 00:12 BST, Lancaster University's Aurorawatch issued an amber alert, meaning that aurora is likely across Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. A dozen minutes later, they upgraded to red alert, saying "It is likely that aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK."