Northern lights dazzle skies over West of England

Jaw-dropping displays of the Northern Lights have been seen across the West of England at the same time as the Perseid meteor shower.

Skies above Cirencester and the Forest of Dean in Gloucestershire turned purple on Monday evening and the sight was also spotted above Bristol and in Somerset.

The Aurora Borealis has been spotted more regularly in the UK over the last few months.

With enhanced solar activity continuing, BBC Weather says there will be more chances to see the aurora over the coming months.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights - or aurora borealis - appear as bright, swirling curtains of lights in the night sky and range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.

It is caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The colours occur due to different gases in the Earth's atmosphere being energised by the charged particles.

The two most common gases in the Earth's atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen. Oxygen atoms glow green - the colour most often seen in the Northern Lights, while nitrogen atoms emit purple, blue and pink.

The most impressive auroras occur when the sun emits really large clouds of particles called "coronal mass ejections".

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