Spectacular lights show across Tayside and Fife

DISPLAY: Northern Lights mesmerise sky watchers

Vast swathes of Courier Country were treated to a mesmerising display of the Aurora Borealis – better known as the Northern Lights – on Sunday night.

The tremendous light show was visible across most of Tayside and Fife, and as far afield as Northern Ireland and Oxfordshire, as many people shared stunning photographs of the phenomenon on social media.

Ken Kennedy, 73, of Broughty Ferry, a director at the British Astronomical Association, said forecasters had predicted a solar storm and good conditions for Aurora Borealis on Sunday.

Green, pink, purple, red and yellow lights were reported for several hours from about 8pm – and he himself captured some stunning images from his garden.

But according to his calculations, the chances of a repeat any time soon were slim, with stargazers last night left disappointed.

“The aurora can be caused by solar flares,” said the retired Ninewells Hospital haematologist.

“But this activity was caused by a coronal hole. There wasn’t likely to be an immediate repeat because the magnetic field induction between the sun and the Earth’s magnetic field is dropping.”

Mr Kennedy explained that coronal holes generally discharge fast solar wind, which is solar material that the sun spews out into the solar system faster than normal.

Mr Kennedy, who worked as a parttime astronomer at the Mills Observatory in Dundee for four years after retiring from Ninewells, said it was the best aurora he had seen since February 2014.

Picture: Anne Johnston. A stunning image of the Northern Lights from Monikie, near Dundee.

Pictures: Michael Rennie/Sammy Donaldson. A view of the Northern Lights over Dundee from Wormit, top, and the display in Angus.

A satellite image from the Met Office showing Sunday’s event.