The exact time Northern Lights will be visible over UK skies tonight

The Met Office shared when people in the UK may be able to catch a glimpse of the rare Northern Lights show tonight, October 10.

People in the north of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland are more likely to get a peek at the phenomenon than those living in the southern areas of Britain.

Sharing a video on X, the Met Office expect the earliest possible sightings to start from 8pm tonight and to last until about 5am Friday morning, and again from 3pm on Friday until 6am on Saturday.

The video uses a colour-coded system to represent the "probability of the aurora", with red being the highest and green being the lowest.

According to the video, the red zone is set to start from 9pm tonight and sweep west across the tip of the UK until 5am, where it may still be visible to the west from parts of Scotland.

The lights could once again swirl west over the north of the UK from 5pm on Friday until 4am on Saturday.

Speaking about the arrival time on X, the Met Office said: "A coronal mass ejection from the sun is earth bound and whilst there's some uncertainty on its arrival time, sightings of the aurora are likely in northern areas with a slight chance in the south too."

It also confirmed locations most likely to be treated to the spectacle, saying: “Aurora sightings are likely across Scotland and Northern Ireland, perhaps across northern England.

“There is a slight chance of sightings across parts of the Midlands or the south of England where skies are clear.”

AuroraWatch UK which specialises in monitoring the Northern Lights also issued a red alert, meaning, "it is likely that aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK."

The natural spectacle is normally reserved for Scandinavia and the Arctic, technically called the Aurora Borealis, which is created when charged particles from the sun collide with the Earth's atmosphere.