Pictures: Solar storm fills North Devon skies with the aurora borealis

An incredible display of the Northern Lights blazed across North Devon’s skies last night (Wednesday) as the Earth passed through an intense solar storm.

Perfect atmospheric conditions meant the Aurora Borealis could be seen across most of the UK, even as far south as our region, where the astral displays were spotted in Ilfracombe, South Molton, Umberleigh, Westward Ho! and across the two districts.

Above: This image was taken by Stephanie Hughes in Ilfracombe, looking across the Bristol Channel.

They are not typically strongly visible to the naked eye, although a glow in the sky can often be seen, but a smartphone on night mode or a camera on a slow exposure setting with reveal the awesome purple and green effects.

The aurora has been seen more frequently in recent months because the sun is near the peak of its 11-year activity cycle - known as the solar maximum - resulting in more solar flares.

Above: A screenshot from a video recorded by local photographer Adam Hobbs, looking towards Morte Point

This sees charged particles from the sun enter Earth’s atmosphere, reacting with oxygen and nitrogen to create the shimmering greens, pinks and purples.

The Met Office reported: “A coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived at Earth in the late afternoon on April 15th.

“Its associated effects may continue into Wednesday night and may bring aurora to far northern parts of the UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes. The auroral oval will ease to background levels thereafter.”

Sadly the prediction for tonight (Thursday) is for low levels of solar energy and the aurora is unlikely to be seen.

You can track future episodes via the AuroraWatch UK website or download the app to your smartphone to receive notifications of solar energy levels.