The Northern Lights lit up the night sky with rare sightings across the country on Friday night (10 May).

The Northern Lights, also known as aurora borealis, has been spotted in Whitley Bay on the northeast coast, Essex, Cambridgeshire and Wokingham in Berkshire.

They were also spotted in Suffolk, Kent, Hampshire and Liverpool.

The sightings have reached as far as Ireland, with the Irish weather service Met Eireann posting images of the lights in Dublin and at Shannon Airport in Co Clare.

The visibility of the Northern Lights was increased on Friday because of an “extreme” geomagnetic storm, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).