Northern Lights and storm put on Norfolk weather show

A tantalising glimpse of the Northern Lights combined with a lightning storm created a weather showcase in the early hours of Tuesday.

Photographer Gary Pearson, from Norfolk, admitted it was quite the "surprise" to capture a storm dancing below the aurora borealis while he slept.

"Having taken the journey to Brancaster Staithe harbour about 11pm to see if the aurora was visible on camera or to the naked eye, I was greeted by a thick bank of cloud scuppering any chance of photographing it," he said.

"I decided to go home and get some sleep, but not before setting my camera up, looking from my bedroom window in Titchwell, to take a photo every 30 seconds in the hope it might capture something if there was a break in the clouds.

"While I was asleep my camera took 500 photos in just over four hours, and to my surprise not only did it capture a few teasing glimpses of the Northern Lights, but it also captured a storm passing over as well."

The Northern Lights are caused by the interaction of the solar wind - a stream of charged particles escaping the sun - and our planet's magnetic field and atmosphere.