Sky-gazers in parts of the UK may be treated to a display of the northern lights on Thursday night as solar winds race towards Earth at about 1 million mph. People in Scotland, the north of England and Northern Ireland may have the best chance to view the colourful aurora 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 – a sudden release of plasma from the sun’s corona, the outermost part of its atmosphere. The Met Office said the northern lights would be visible at night from Thursday 6 to Saturday 8 July, clear skies permitting. A spokesperson said on Thursday: “The northern lights may be enhanced overnight tonight with the arrival of a coronal mass ejection. They are most likely to reach Scotland, parts of northern England and Northern Ireland. “However, visibility may be poor for many, with cloud and rain for many in those regions overnight, as well as only a short window where it’s dark enough as we’re in summer.” Prof Don Pollacco, of the University of Warwick’s physics department, said the northern lights – also known as aurora borealis – are caused by particles from the sun interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere that are channelled to the polar regions by the planet’s magnetic field. Depending on which gas molecules are hit, and where they are in the atmosphere, different amounts of energy are released as different wavelengths of light. For example, oxygen produces green light while nitrogen causes the sky to glow red, said Pollacco. “These shapes change quickly over timescales of minutes or even seconds. To predict exactly where you can see the northern lights is difficult as conditions can change quickly. “The current storm is said to be visible from northern England, but they are notoriously difficult to predict. “However, one thing is for sure, and that is that you are unlikely to see them from a brightly lit city environment – you need to go somewhere dark and look towards the northern horizon. “So, you would preferably be in the countryside away from street lights.”