Operational incident at ExxonMobil Fawley sees South Coast bathed in orange glow

An operational incident was declared at one of the UK's largest oil refineries overnight, which saw parts of the South Coast bathed in an orange glow.

Residents reported seeing bright orange lights coming from ExxonMobil Fawley, as the site activated its flares as part of 'normal safety procedures'.

The incident which began shortly after 6pm was spotted by locals across Hampshire, and could even be seen from the Isle of Wight.

ExxonMobil confirmed the flares would be visible to the community, and some may hear its onsite siren. It apologised for the disturbance.

The glow has been compared to 'Mordor' by some locals, who were initially spooked by the orange light being cast across the sky.

One resident in Southampton described the incident as a 'weird red glow', with the flares cutting through light pollution from street lights.

It was even spotted by an eagled eyed passenger onboard an aeroplane at 30 thousand feet.

According to ExxonMobile the flares 'act as a safety valve' for the plant.

It says: "During normal operations, crude oil is refined to produce a variety of products.

"However, during an interruption, such as an unplanned loss of power, the system is occasionally unable to continue its processing and excess hydrocarbons are routed through the flare system.

"There, the vapours are combined with steam and burned off; ensuring maximum combustion of hydrocarbons, while minimising emissions into the air."

In a statement about the incident ExxonMobile Fawley said: "As our teams continue to address the operational incident, our flares are currently operational and will be visible to the community.

"This is part of our normal safety procedures. Please continue to monitor our account for further updates. We apologise for any disturbance."