Northern lights spotted over Wales

The northern lights (aurora borealis) were spotted over Wales last night, and it is all due to increased solar activity and the sun reaching its peak in its 11-year cycle. The UK has been witnessing a host of celestial spectacles over the past 12 months – and there have already been a number of sightings in 2025.

There have been predictions that this year could see 'once-in-a-decade' displays. According to the Met Office "occasional enhancements to the auroral oval" are possible during March and it proved true on Wednesday night.

This stunning picture was taken by Ruth Davies over the Vale of Clwyd on Wednesday. The forecasting agency says that the lights are best seen in darkness, away from any light pollution. The lights generally extend from 50 miles to as high as 400 miles above the Earth's surface.

The northern lights occur as a consequence of solar activity and result from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere.

The best conditions to view the lights are when the sky is dark and clear of any clouds. Cloud cover ultimately blocks the view of the light. Ideally, the lights will be best viewed away from any light pollution, in remote areas, facing the northern horizon - north facing coasts produce some of the best viewing locations.

The northern lights are most active during the Equinox and Solstice in March/April and September/October. At 09.01am on Thursday morning this year's Vernal Equinox takes place. The Met Office explains that is when the sun is positioned exactly above the Equator, before moving into the Northern Hemisphere, and also means the start of astronomical spring.

It also comes as fine and dry weather will see temperatures peak on Thursday before a transition to more unsettled weather over the weekend. Much of the UK has had settled weather in recent days, with warmer air also moving in from the south and southwest. Read more about how hot it will get where you are here.

Met Office chief meteorologist Jason Kelly explained: “High pressure to the east of the UK is helping to draw warmer air north across the country, resulting in temperatures well above average for the time of year.

“Thursday is likely to see temperatures peak as part of this meteorological set-up, likely reaching around 20°C in some spots in the south. It’ll also be a widely sunny day for the UK, with just patchy fair-weather cloud in central areas of England at times.”

If temperatures reach 20°C on Thursday that would make it the warmest day of the year so far, though this is obviously very common occurrence as we move through meteorological spring.