Look back on a second night of stunning northern lights

1. The Met Office says there's a chance that many places across the UK will get to see the northern lights again tonight
2. It follows a rare display last night which saw the aurora visible as far south as Cornwall
3. There were also sightings in Northern Ireland, south Wales and Norfolk
4. However, cloudy skies may limit tonight's view, with the west of Scotland likely to have the best vantage point
5. An aurora is formed by a solar flare erupting on the Sun, sending charged particles towards Earth which interact with our atmosphere
6. You can share your photos of the northern lights through the 'Get Involved' button at the top of the page

And it's goodnight from us Earthlings

We're closing our live page now.

Thank you to everyone who has sent in magnificent images of the northern lights.

What. A. Night.

You've been sending us some incredible images from across the country of tonight's northern lights.

From pink skies in Lochmaddy in the Outer Hebrides of Scotland to glowing, yellow clouds in Derbyshire, it seems many of you got to enjoy the aurora for the second night in a row.

BBC Weather Watchers/Kate

The glow was seen over Stirling tonight

BBC Weather Watcher, tracey1978tails

This was taken in Overseal, Derbyshire

BBC Weather Watcher, Dappled Dog

And this was taken in Drumbeg, Highland

The view from BBC Weather Watchers in the Scottish isles

BBC Weather Watcher, Skye View

The dazzling green night sky in Sconser on the Isle of Skye

Weather Watchers/Con in Leverburgh

And the view from Leverburgh, in the Outer Hebrides

The best place to look? Skye of course

BBC Weather Watchers, Breakish

The Isle of Skye is also providing a spectacular show

BBC Weather Watcher, Terrace views

Mallaig has a certain beauty in this light

BBC Weather Watchers in the west

Our team in BBC Bristol have been sent local photos from Wiltshire and Yate.

You can also send in your pictures of the northern lights tonight by clicking Get Involved at the top of this page or by emailing [e-mail]

BBC Weather Watchers, Astro Mike

Our weather watchers captured the view outside their homes

BBC Weather Watchers, Steve

The sky appears like a rainbow in some areas

BBC Weather Watchers, Elaine C

Photographs have been sent from Wiltshire and Yate

The aurora hunters who chase the northern lights

Michelle Cumming

Michelle Cumming enjoying a display of the aurora with the lights of an RAF jet streaking across the sky

Some people are prepared to stand for hours in the freezing cold on a winter's night to watch and capture the northern lights.

Meet the aurora hunters.

Michelle Cumming has been fascinated with the northern lights since she saw the phenomenon for the first time in September 2020.

"I've made last minute dashes in my unicorn PJs," says the 42-year-old, who lives in Moray on Scotland's north-east coast.

"And I've had my backpack and flask prepared to go aurora hunting. I often take my dog Dexter with me, wrapping him up in a fleece blanket while we stand and watch the aurora."

Read the full story here.

A deeper shade of purple

BBC Weather Watchers, PhotographerDan

Lovely purple hues painted the night sky in Poringland, Norfolk

BBC Weather Watcher Photographer Dan took this stunning photo in Poringland, Norfolk this evening.

A spectacularly moody castle in the Highlands

BBC Weather Watchers, Dave

Lochinver Castle

This spooky picture of a castle is in Lochinver in the Scottish Highlands and was taken by BBC Weather Watcher Dave.

Top tips for capturing the northern lights on camera

Morgan Spence

BBC Scotland

Morgan Spence BBC News

The Aurora Borealis over Tromsø, Norway back in January: Shutter speed of two seconds, ISO 1000, f/2.8 aperture

There are a few key settings to help get the most out of your camera when photographing the northern lights, as I found out on a recent trip to Tromsø in Norway.

Even though smartphones can capture the phenomenon, a DSLR camera will give you the best results.

• First things first -Switch your camera to ‘manual’ mode to give you full control of the settings
• Keep it steady - So the shot looks sharp, mount your camera on a tripod
• Shutter speed - Experiment with shutter speeds between 1 second to 15 seconds. If the aurora is shimmering fast in the sky, lower the shutter speed
• Aperture (or f-stop) - Set this as wide as possible - if you can to f/2.8 or lower - to make sure there’s plenty of light hitting the camera’s sensor
• ISO - This controls your camera’s sensitivity to light. Try varying it between 800-3200, depending on the conditions
• Focus -Switch from autofocus to manual focus and set it to ‘infinity’ (look out for this symbol“∞”)

Moon reflects green

Many northern lights seekers worry that a full moon will prevent the display being as bright.

Tonight's moon reflects the green colours coming through the auroral display.

Often northern lights photographers like the presence of a full moon as it adds another interesting view to their aurora pictures.

Tonight we've had weather watchers capture the first quarter moon in Suffolk.

BBC Weather Watcher, Gone Clicking

The quarter moon in Beccles, Suffolk

Mesmerising spectacle on Tanera Mor

Hugo McCarthy

Here's the view from Tanera Mor, one of the summer isles off the Scottish coast

Hugo McCarthy took this picture on a small island off the west coast of Scotland called Tanera Mor.

Hugo says: "I’d just like to say how magical and mesmerising the spectacle was and how you can see how people used to think that gods used to live up in the sky."

The science and legends behind the wonder

Victoria Gill

Science correspondent

Sharon Chambers

There was a dazzling light show in Elgin last night

A Finnish legend has it that the northern lights are sparks from the tail of an Arctic fox as it dashes across the sky.

There is a Norse myth that they are reflections from the shields of the Valkyries - female spirit warriors that transported fallen soldiers to the land of the Gods.

But the science of this shimmering display - that is particularly intense at the moment - is just as other-worldly.

It is caused by the solar wind, charged particles that stream away from our Sun at speeds of about one million miles per hour, interacting with our planet’s magnetic field.

This solar wind has its own magnetic field that can merge with the Earth's magnetic field lines and connect our planet to the solar wind.

It is this connection that can energise charged particles, firing them towards the Earth where they collide with the atmosphere and cause this glow.

A particularly explosive outburst from the Sun, known as a coronal mass ejection, essentially drags Earth’s magnetic field lines even further away from the poles – making the northern lights visible further south.

Excitement mounts in meteorological circles

For some people, tonight is just as exciting as last night.

You can never get too much of the aurora borealis.

Just a glimmer of green enough for one sky watcher

Lauren Hyde

Shotley Gate in Ipswich, Suffolk is more subtle in its illumination

Cloud cover means some areas will unfortunately miss out on a second night of the rare light phenomenon.

But Lauren Hyde, who took this picture from her back garden in Shotley Gate in Ipswich was content with just a glimmer of green in the distance.

“My dream has come true!” she said.

A breathtaking view from the Isle of Berneray

Lucy MacAskill

The Isle of Berneray is providing a beautiful vista this evening

This picture was captured by Lucy MacAskill on the Isle of Berneray in Scotland's Outer Hebrides who says: "The northern lights never normally appear as bright where we live.

"One of the best locations to view from in the Scottish Isles."

Why are the lights so colourful this time?

Pallab Ghosh

Science correspondent

Nine out of ten times when there is an aurora, it appears as a lovely green ethereal glow.

This time though the sky is also filled with reds and purples as well.

That is because the strength of the solar storm is activating the atmosphere higher up, which has proportionately more nitrogen.

This emits blue and red lights when energised. The more oxygen-rich atmosphere lower down emits the green.

The colours also appear more intense than usual because the Moon is only 50% visible and the air has been unusually clear.

Scientists are expecting there to be more such events over the coming months and years as the Sun approaches its active cycle.

Scotland's Western Isles is seeing a spectacular show too

BBC Weather Watchers/Artymum

This is the view over the Western Isles tonight

BBC Weather Watchers/Bobby

Lochmaddy is seeing the colours bright tonight

BBC Weather Watchers/Dean

Beautiful shades of green and red are also in the sky above Carloway, in the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides

Here are our first pictures of the night...

BBC Weather Watchers/Jackie MacLennan

Residents of the Isle of Skye have been treated to displays of the aurora already tonight - Jackie MacLennan captured these images of the island's light show.

Frustratingly, cloud has obscured the view of the night sky for large parts of the Highlands that enjoyed views of the aurora on Sunday.

BBC Weather Watchers/Jackie MacLennan

Clear skies and a camera are key to capturing aurora's vibrancy

Simon King

BBC weather presenter and meteorologist

With activity on the Sun’s surface remaining high, we’re likely to see the northern lights again tonight.

The current forecast is for a geomagnetic storm with planetary index (Kp) 7 – a measure of the magnitude of a geomagnetic storm.

Kp 7 would mean the aurora could be visible as far south as southern England, just like we had last night.

You will need clear skies and a good view of the northern horizon away from any light pollution.

While the northern lights can be visible with the naked eye during intense solar storms, to really see the full effect then you would need to view through a camera.

Cameras are able to detect the colours of an aurora better than our human eye and when used with long exposures, colours will become more vibrant.

Some of our favourite pictures from last night

Ella McKenzie

Steven McKenzie and his daughter Ella raced to the top of a local hill above Inverness to get the best view

BBC Scotland reporter Steven McKenzie hurried to find the best vantage point during last night's dazzling display.

"My eldest daughter Ella and I headed up a hill to see them above Inverness. The northern lights were amazing last night," he said.

And it seems he wasn't the only one. Here's hoping the sky shines as bright for tonight's stargazers!

BBC Weather Watchers/Bluecat

BBC Weather Watcher Bluecat captured this view of the spectacle over Dunfermline

BBC Weather Watchers/Kev B

Vibrant green colours of the aurora filled the whole sky in the Shetland Islands

BBC Weather Watchers/Karl McCarthy

A kaleidoscope of colours was cast over the Brecon Beacons in south Wales

BBC Weather Watchers/Jamie

The lights are rarely seen in Kent, southern England