Northern Lights visible across east coast of Ireland

The Northern Lights have made a rare appearance across Irish skies on Friday night as an intense solar storm and clear skies have resulted in people across the island, but mostly those along the east coast, being able to view the aurora borealis.

The sightings of the Northern Lights led to a frenzy on social media with many spectacular photographs being web published, particularly from both sides of the Irish Sea.

US authorities have issued the first Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch alert since 2005, with the possibility that mass particles from the sun will cause disruption to electricity and communication facilities.

A comparable solar storm in 2003 caused power outages in Sweden and South Africa.

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The US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAO) said at least five earth-directed coronal mass ejections are on their way. They emanate from a sunspot cluster which is 16 times the size of the Earth.

Charged particles are expected to arrive as early as today and to persist through until Sunday.

The warning will last through until Sunday but will also afford people living in the northern hemisphere a rare chance to see the so-called “Northern Lights”.

Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are caused by massive ejections of solar material by the sun which collide with the Earth’s magnetic field. The charged particles from the sun create the lights that appear in latitudes near the north and south poles.

Met Éireann has said that it may be possible to see the northern Iights in all parts of Ireland, but those living in the northern half of the country will have the best chance to see them.

The UK Met Office has issued a similar advisory which could also apply to Ireland.

“Where skies are clear and provided dark enough skies, sightings are expected to develop following the CME (coronal mass-ejections) arrival across the northern half of the UK, with a chance that aurora may become visible to all parts of the UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes,” the Met Office stated.

“Aurora activity may remain enhanced after this given the potential for further Earth-directed CMEs in the coming days.”

Met Éireann has advised people to look north and get away from light pollution in cities or towns.

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