Picture gallery: Northern Lights in dazzling display in skies over Doncaster

It’s rare for the aurora borealis to be seen as far south as Yorkshire, but clear skies made for a series of spectacular sightings with people across Doncaster reporting seeing the sky glowing pink and green.

Even people as far south as Kent and Plymouth managed to get a glimpse.

One of the strongest geomagnetic storms for years is hitting the earth and the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a rare solar storm warning – and such storms increase the chance of seeing the Northern Lights.

The Met Office said that "enhanced activity" is expected to persist, but at reduced levels, through Saturday night into Sunday – giving Doncaster people another chance to see them tomorrow.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights - or aurora borealis - appear as bright, swirling curtains of lights in the night sky and range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.

It is caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The colours occur due to different gases in the Earth's atmosphere being energised by the charged particles.

The two most common gases in the Earth's atmosphere are nitrogen and oxygen. Oxygen atoms glow green - the colour most often seen in the Northern Lights, while nitrogen atoms emit purple, blue and pink.

The most impressive auroras occur when the Sun emits really large clouds of particles called "coronal mass ejections".