Entire month of rain to fall in just 6 hours this week with Northern Lights illuminate UK skies again

THE Northern Lights are set to return to the skies tonight, but the spectacular display will be closely followed by a month’s worth of rain.

The Met Office expects the downpours to start in the early hours of Wednesday morning and will cloak parts of southwest England and south Wales.

LNPHeavy rain and thunderstorms are heading to the UK, with yellow warnings across parts of the country[/caption]

As much as 60mm of rain has been predicted for some parts of the country from midnight on Wednesday through to 2pm.

The Met Office has issued a yellow weather warning from Swindon all the way across the country to the furthest point of Cornwall.

This means that homes and businesses are at risk of flooding, and there could be an interruption to power supplies.

The rain and strong winds could affect public transport, so make sure to check your journey before you travel.

Thunderstorms are also expected, but will become more isolated across Wednesday afternoon.

Rebekah Hicks, Chief Meteorologist at the Met Office said: “We’re expecting a band of heavy rain and strong winds to move northeast through the first part of Wednesday, followed by heavy showers and the risk of thunderstorms.

“Some of these could bring hail and gusty winds, particularly in southern areas.

“Of course, the warning coincides with the first school run after the summer holidays for some, meaning a wet and potentially disruptive start to the day for many.”

Elsewhere, a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers is expected in the south and southeast, with temperatures in the high teens further north.

Yesterday, Brits took to social media to share beautiful photos of the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis.

There were sightings as far south as Dorset, with the evening sky glowing pink and green.

The Met Office explained that the light display was caused by a fast-moving coronal mass ejection (CME) that left the sun late on Saturday night.

The Met Office has warned of potential flooding and travel distruption

The colours are caused by charged particles from the sun clashing with gases in the Earth‘s atmosphere.

Today and tomorrow will see night-time viewing conditions worsen, but northern Scotland and northern England are likely to have the clearest skies, although still not ideal viewing conditions.

It comes after stargazers last night reported sightings in north-east Scotland, northern England and the Midlands, with photos on social media showing the lights as far south as West Cork in Ireland.

Back in 2003 a mega geomagnetic storm happened which increased our chances in the UK of seeing the northern lights.

It usually takes a large geomagnetic storm to see the lights.

These storms come from the sun and work on a cycle of 11 years.

When the sun reaches its 11 year cycle, sunspot activity is increases which creates more Coronal Mass Ejections.

More charged particles are then sent to Earth and that triggers the light.

Since the sun is currently reaching its 11 year cycle, we are seeing more of the lights, but once the cycle passes, we will see less.

In 2024, high altitude areas such as Scotland, the North of England, the North of Wales and Northern Ireland have had the clearest displays.

However, many people have managed to see the lights all over the UK.

To see the northern lights best, first make sure you’re in a low pollution area and it’s night time.

Sometimes it can be difficult for the naked eye to see the lights because of light pollution or twilight.

If this is the case, your phone camera could do a better job of picking up the light.

Then, look towards the northern horizon.