{"id":379898,"date":"2026-01-20T08:02:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:02:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379898\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T08:02:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T08:02:09","slug":"aurora-borealis-seen-as-far-south-as-cornwall-with-britons-treated-to-spectacular-display","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/379898\/","title":{"rendered":"Aurora borealis seen as far south as Cornwall with Britons treated to spectacular display"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Northern Lights were seen as far south as Cornwall overnight as Britons were treated to an extraordinary display.<\/p>\n

An extreme geomagnetic storm brought the aurora to skies across the country – with spectacular green and pink flares visible from Land’s End to John O’Groats.<\/p>\n

The aurora swirled predominantly west of Britain, over Ireland and the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

Social media was abuzz with reactions from people marvelling at the spectacle.<\/p>\n

One, Suzzanne Evans, wrote: ‘Just the most wonderful Northern Lights here in Shropshire tonight.”<\/p>\n

Further south, another user said: “Northern Lights in south Devon. Flipping gorgeous.”<\/p>\n

And further south still in Cornwall, another wrote: “Fantastic display of northern lights here in Penzance right now, even with some light pollution.”<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Social media was abuzz with reactions from people marvelling at the spectacle<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

STUART FORSEY<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

PICTURED: A long-exposure shot of the Northern Lights over Cornwall<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

STUART FORSEY<\/p>\n

While at the other end of the country in Skye, Callum Montegomery said: “WOW. I’ve seen the Northern Lights in Skye before, but NEVER like that. Insane.”<\/p>\n

He added the display was visible to the naked eye even near streetlights, noting his mother had finally witnessed the phenomenon after a lifetime on the island with no luck.<\/p>\n

Stuart Forsey captured a series of stunning images from Cornwall – which were shared with GB News’ Bev Turner.<\/p>\n

“This was the northern lights in Cornwall,” Bev said as she brought The Late Show Live to a close just before 2am. “What a beautiful country we have. Aren’t they incredible?”<\/p>\n

AMAZING AURORA – READ MORE:<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

The Met Office said a fast-moving coronal mass ejection was behind the display<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

STUART FORSEY<\/p>\n

Though some viewers found the lights invisible to the naked eye, long exposure photographs could capture them.<\/p>\n

Modern smartphones now include features that allow users to photograph the aurora even when it cannot be seen directly.<\/p>\n

Aurora detection app AuroraWatchUK earlier triggered a red alert warning that the Northern lights would be visible nationwide.<\/p>\n

Electromagnetic readings spiked above 1,100 nanoteslas, representing exceptionally high levels.<\/p>\n

The Met Office explained that a fast-moving coronal mass ejection was responsible for the aurora activity.<\/p>\n

\"Northern<\/p>\n

Spectacular green and pink flares were visible from Land’s End to John O’Groats<\/p>\n

| <\/p>\n

STUART FORSEY<\/p>\n

It said: “The arrival time of the CME is uncertain, but aurora sightings are possible in northern Britain and perhaps in southern areas depending on cloud cover.”<\/p>\n

The Met Office added: “We have received reports of the aurora visible as far south as Devon this evening.”<\/p>\n

Those hoping to catch the display are told to seek out a dark location and allow 15 minutes for their eyes to adjust.<\/p>\n

Bringing a camera is recommended – and viewers should dress warmly, with temperatures plunging to just 3C in Cornwall and below zero in the Highlands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Northern Lights were seen as far south as Cornwall overnight as Britons were treated to an extraordinary…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":379899,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[35884,102644,50,90,117384,416,56,54,55,1068],"class_list":["post-379898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-space","tag-across-the-uk","tag-best-of-britain","tag-news","tag-science","tag-south-west","tag-space","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom","tag-weather"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=379898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/379898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/379899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=379898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=379898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=379898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}