Find out why tonight is a good night to see the Northern Lights

Forecasts for the aurora show that people across the North East could be in with a chance of seeing the Northern lights tonight (10 May.)

Predictions show that the signal for the aurora borealis is strong across parts of the United Kingdom including Northern England.

Clear skies are expected, meaning a higher chance of seeing the phenomenon.

Ideally, the lights will be best viewed away from any light pollution, in remote areas, facing the northern horizon - north-facing coasts produce some of the best viewing locations.

The signal is expected to remain high into the weekend, meaning lucky aurora hunters could spot them tomorrow (11 May) too.

It could be one of the best chances to see the aurora before the autumn due to the summer nights getting longer.

What are the Northern Lights?

The colourful aurora is caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The charged particles are a result of a phenomenon known as coronal mass ejection (CME) – which is a sudden release of magnetised plasma from the sun’s corona, the outermost part of its atmosphere.

Watch ITV Tyne Tees feature on capturing the aurora borealis here.