UK Northern Lights 'spectacular'

The Aurora Borealis - better known as the Northern Lights - has been giving rare and spectacular displays over parts of the UK, 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 Northern Lights appear as shimmering waves of light when atoms in the Earth's high-altitude atmosphere collide with energetic charged particles from the sun.

Astronomer Mark Thompson says seeing the Aurora Borealis in the UK was "a rare treat".