Aurora may be visible in UK and northern US as solar storm hits

The Northern Lights could be visible across parts of the United Kingdom on the night of November 7 after a coronal mass ejection from the Sun is expected to strike Earth’s atmosphere, the Met Office and the Aurorawatch UK project warned on Wednesday. Aurorawatch issued a red alert, indicating that with relatively clear, dark skies the aurora may be visible with the naked eye from high-latitude parts of the UK, while the United States government’s space weather centre issued a separate alert for strong geomagnetic activity across northern US states on November 6 and into November 7.

The Met Office Space Weather forecasting service said the auroral oval is likely to become enhanced over the coming days “due to glancing CME coronal mass ejection effects and then a coronal hole fast wind.” It added that an aurora is increasingly likely to be visible from Scotland and similar geomagnetic latitudes by November 7, with a chance of sightings in Northern Ireland and northern England and a slight, lower-confidence chance of glimpses from Wales and central England. The service noted that a coronal mass ejection associated with an M7.6 flare on November 5 may give a glancing blow to Earth...