Why the Northern Lights have different colours and what they all mean about the weather
The Northern Lights are set to be visible in the UK once more tonight (Saturday, May 11) with dazzling displays in our skies. This follows an awe inspiring natural show last night that swept the country last night due to an intense geomagnetic storm raging above earth. But as these beautiful displays appeared in the sky overnight, it left many people wondering why aurora borealis flickered in multiple colours. To answer the question briefly, it's about altitude and oxygen. Red colours are only visible during periods of the most intense solar activity. This is because the colour is projected by excited atomic oxygen at high altitudes - above 150 miles. READ MORE: Professor Brian Cox gives hope of 'good chance' we'll see Northern Lights display tonight Beautiful light displays appeared across Britain overnight (Image: Ahmet Fevzi Arican/Anadolu via Getty Images) Due to the low concentration of oxygen at this high altitude, you can only see red colours...