Northern lights display captured over England

The Aurora Borealis - better known as the Northern Lights - has been giving rare and spectacular displays over parts of England.

The light show, which is caused by electrically charged particles from the Sun entering the Earth's atmosphere, was visible as the Earth moves into a new alignment with the Sun.

The display was spotted across the North East, Yorkshire and Cumbria.

Here are some of the images that were captured.

Joan Thirlaway captured this photo of jets from RAF Spadeadam taking part in an exercise on the border between Cumbria and Northumberland. She said the sky was "alive with light"

Paul Appleby spent hours waiting at St Cuthbert's in Alnmouth to capture the lights. He said: "I may have missed the earlier activity due to cloud cover, but I'm happy that I caught what I did."

Stephen Cheatley took this image of the Milky Way and Aurora at Ribblehead Viaduct in North Yorkshire

Russell Barnes sent this photo of the Aurora at Hutton Row eight miles north of Penrith

Amanda Ainsley said the Northern Lights were "magnificent" over Scargill near Barnard Castle

Ian Glendinning took this shot of the aurora and milky way from near Whittingham in Northumberland

This photo shows a spectacular display of the lights shining over Derwentwater in the Lake District

Aurora hunting in the UK

• Find out how to maximise your chances of seeing the Northern Lights

• Follow Carol Kirkwood on her hunt for the aurora in Scotland

iWonder: How can I see the Northern Lights in the UK?