window.dotcom = window.dotcom || { cmd: [] }; window.dotcom.ads = window.dotcom.ads || { resolves: {enabled: [], getAdTag: []}, enabled: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.push(r)), getAdTag: () => new Promise(r => window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.push(r)) }; setTimeout(() => { if(window.dotcom.ads.resolves){ window.dotcom.ads.resolves.enabled.forEach(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.resolves.getAdTag.forEach(r => r("")); window.dotcom.ads.enabled = () => new Promise(r => r(false)); window.dotcom.ads.getAdTag = () => new Promise(r => r("")); console.error("NGAS load timeout"); } }, 5000)
Skip to content

Northern Lights put on show over the North-West

Jonny Humphries
BBC News, Lancashire
Christian Spooner/BBC Red, green and purple lights shimmer in the night sky while the silhouette of a small tree stands in the centre of the frame in the foreground.Christian Spooner/BBC
BBC journalist Christian Spooner captured the lights near Quernmore in Lancashire

The Northern Lights put on spectacular show over the North-West overnight.

Photographers from across the region captured stunning shots of the vivid greens, yellows, purples and reds of the natural phenomenon, known as Aurora Borealis.

The aurora has been more visible in recent weeks due to increased solar activity as the earth reaches the "height" of the sun's 11 year solar cycle.

Mark Griffiths, who works as a Northern Lights tour guide in Iceland during the winters, said the "main show" happened after midnight following some fainter sightings shortly after 20:00 GMT.

Mark Griffiths Yellow and faint red hues in the sky above a tree lined skyline, with a straw statue of Paddington Bear raising his hat in the foreground.Mark Griffiths
Jonny Gios Purple, green and yellow lights in the night sky from a hilltop, with a tree in the foreground and a stone structure on the right of the frameJonny Gios
The Northern Lights pictured over the Paddington Bear statue in Nantwich, Cheshire
The Northern Lights above Scout Scar in the Lake District

Mr Griffiths, 41, said he was keen to capture the lights above the Paddington Bear straw statue in Nantwich, Cheshire.

"I wanted to get that shot because the Northern Lights over Cheshire. It's not really normal is it":[]}