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<\/p>\nStriking red and green skies have been seen across Scotland as the Aurora Borealis lit up the sky nationwide.<\/p>\n
The aurora – also known as the Northern Lights – appear as bright, swirling curtains of light in the night sky and range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.<\/p>\n
The phenomenon was seen widely across Scotland on Monday, from Orkney in the north all the way to the Borders.<\/p>\n
It is caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth’s atmosphere.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The most impressive auroras occur when the Sun emits really large clouds of particles called “coronal mass ejections”.<\/p>\n
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The aurora was captured over Dunwoodie Mains in Dumfries and Galloway [BBC WeatherWatchers\/Leonard]<\/p>\n
Have you seen the Northern Lights. You can submit your pictures to BBC Weather Watchers<\/a> or to scotlandpictures@bbc.co.uk.<\/p>\n Please ensure you adhere to the BBC’s rules on photography that can be found here.<\/a><\/p>\n In contributing to BBC News you agree to grant us a royalty-free, non-exclusive licence to publish and otherwise use the material in any way, including in any media worldwide.<\/p>\n However, you will still own the copyright to everything you contribute to BBC News.<\/p>\n