Aurora Borealis visible in Donegal

The Northern Lights were visible to the naked eye along the north coast of Ireland on Tuesday night.

The Fort Dunree webcam, hosted by Adam Rory Porter Photography, captured the Aurora Borealis display between 10.30pm and midnight.

As cloud cover began to break over the Inishowen Peninsula near Buncrana In Donegal, flashes of the aurora’s signature green and purple started to appear on the sky.

The aurora typically form 80 to 500 km above Earth’s surface and are the result of electrons colliding with the upper reaches of Earth’s atmosphere.

Sightings of the aurora are usually confined to regions near the Antarctic and Arctic, but recent increased solar storm activity is resulting resulted in the displays extending into the mid latitudes in locations like the north of Ireland, Scotland and northern England.

One of the most impressive displays in Ireland in recent years and the strongest geomagnetic storm in the last two decades occurred in May 2024 when the Northern Lights were visible all over the island. The activity coincided with the latest Solar Maximum.

In its latest geomagnetic storm watch forecast, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said the northern lights were being pulled further south in the latitudes due to “a coronal hole high-speed stream — winds from a cooler, less dense area on the sun’s surface —and a recent coronal mass ejection” disrupting Earth’s magnetic field.

Sightings opportunities of the full splendour of the Northern Lights by the naked eye are relatively rare in Ireland. As in May 2024, most people will resort to capturing the display using a wide-angle lens, switching to night mode and disabling the flash.