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Northern Lights illuminate the UK Northern Lights illuminate the UK
(35 minutes later)
The Aurora Borealis - better known as the Northern Lights - has been giving rare and spectacular displays over parts of the UK, including as far south as Essex.The Aurora Borealis - better known as the Northern Lights - has been giving rare and spectacular displays over parts of the UK, including as far south as Essex.
The lights have been clearly visible off the east coast, in Norfolk, as well as the west coast, in South Wales.The lights have been clearly visible off the east coast, in Norfolk, as well as the west coast, in South Wales.
Send your pictures and videos to yourpics@bbc.co.uk or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. The display, which is caused by electronically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere, has been seen in Foxley, Norfolk.
Read the terms and conditions Mark Thompson, presenter of BBC's Stargazing Live, said: "What happens is there is stuff called the solar wind, which is electronically charged particles, and they take two or three days to get here and when they do get here they cause the gas atoms in the sky to glow. It is as simple as that."
He said: "Three or four days ago the sun will have thrown a lot of this stuff out in an event called a Coronal Mass Ejection, and they would have been travelling towards the earth since. It all depends how active the sun has been."
The astronomer said they are usually pulled towards the poles but "if there are enough of them they will travel further down towards the equator and cause the lights to go further south". He said: "It is just good luck. Where I am in Norfolk I have seen it tonight and the last time I have seen it this spectacular here was probably 20 years ago."