Can the Northern Lights be seen with the naked eye?

Over the last few months, stargazers across the UK have been treated to numerous strong showings.

However, if you haven't been lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the lights, you may be wondering if they can be seen with the naked eye.

What are the Northern Lights?

Eyes to the skies for the Northern Lights over the next few nights! Viewing chances will become better as the night goes on tonight - except for in Scotland where it will be increasingly cloudy.
The lights will be more prominent in northern and central parts of the UK. pic.twitter.com/XuCA8StFD7

— BBC Weather (@bbcweather) October 10, 2024

The Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis is a natural light show that occurs in areas with high polar latitudes.

It is caused when electrons collide with the Earth's atmosphere, seeing the night sky light up in bursts of green, red, yellow and blue light.

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Can the Northern Lights be seen with the naked eye?

Look north in the coming nights and you may spot the #NorthernLights 👀

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 pic.twitter.com/DPlXcPd1pM

— Met Office (@metoffice) October 10, 2024

According to the BBC, the Northern Lights are "not always visible to the naked eye" with meteorologists advising those wanting to see the phenomenon to use long exposure cameras.

The light show is more visible to the naked eye in places closer to the poles such as Lapland in Northern Scandinavia.

In places like Scotland and Northern England, which are further from the poles, it is harder to see the display.

It is for this reason that the Aurora Borealis may look more spectacular in photographs and videos than it does to the naked eye.