Northern Lights: Rare 'red alert' for UK - when to look into night sky

Skywatchers in the UK have been told to keep a close eye out as a rare red alert is issued for an aurora borealis today (August 17).

The Northern Lights have appeared regularly over the last few months but seeing them relies on the right weather conditions locally. In the UK, the stunning phenomena is most likely to be visible by eye or camera of Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland.

However, a red alert issued by AuroraWatch UK means that it is likely to be visible from anywhere in the UK. The free service which is run by scientists in the Space and Planetary Physics group at Lancaster University’s Department of Physics issued the alert at 5.12pm.

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The automated alerts are issued when the disturbance in the Earth's magnetic field reaches a certain threshold. This can occur at any time of the day even though the aurora itself can only be seen during darkness and serves as a warning that it may be visible at night.

According to the Met Office, sunset will be at around 8.32pm in Manchester tonight (August 17) - meaning people will have the best chance to see it after then, as the skies get darker. According to the Mirror, AuroraWatch wrote on Telegram: "Red alert: aurora likely.

"Possibility of aurora later if geomagnetic activity persists. When dark check the current activity."

Statistically, the best time to see an aurora is between 10pm and midnight,though sometimes the aurora can be seen throughout the night, according to AuroraWatch UK. But loud cover and light pollution can affect whether you will actually be able to see the aurora.

The Met Office predicts overcast conditions in Manchester until 5am with clouds remaining