Northern Lights come to the skies of the Melton borough
The skies across the Melton borough were lit up in a swirling mix of scarlet, pink and green at the weekend as the spectacular Northern Lights made a very rare appearance.
The aurora borealis, as they are properly known, are normally only visible in the Scandinavian countries and northern parts of Russia, Alaska and Canada.
It happened in Leicestershire and as far south as the English coast because of one of the strongest geomagnetic storms striking the planet in the last 20 years.
Residents in the Melton area sent us photos they took late on Friday night – the lights could also be seen on Saturday evening.
Aurora borealis was not visible to the naked eye but people could see them by looking directly into the camera on their smartphone and turning the flash off.
Kellie Smith sent us her ‘amazing pictures’ over Leesthorpe and Dave Everitt forwarded spectacular photos taken by his wife Fania, on her iPhone 13 Pro Max, in the skies about Woodland Avenue and Sandy Lane in Melton Mowbray.
The Northern Lights occur due to charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.
Oxygen atoms glow green - the colour most often seen in the Northern Lights – while nitrogen atoms give off the colours purple, blue and pink.
Residents across the Melton borough also posted their photos of aurora borealis, with impressive images shared from Asfordby Road in Melton, Buckminster and Great Dalby, among several others.
There has been an increase in sightings in recent years in the north of UK due to the smartphone and the quality of cameras in them.