Aurora Borealis: Northern lights spotted from Chichester over Midhurst

The beautiful display was visible from the southernmost parts of the country on Sunday and Monday night.

Excited residents flocked to the Trundle last night to catch a glimpse of the rare sight but conditions were not on their side.

Luckily, members of South Downs Photographic Society were on hand to capture the moment it became visible.

Dr Angela Wright, chair of the Society said: “While conditions were far from perfect large numbers of people gathered at The Trundle to see if the aurora borealis would become visible. Sadly, it wasn’t with the naked eye but me and some fellow members of South Down Photographic Society were there with our cameras to see if we could capture it on camera.

“At around 9pm there was significant geomagnetic disturbance of around 250 - 300 nT reported on the Aurora Watch UK app and the clouds parted enough for me to capture this! Some red (agitated nitrogen molecules) and green (oxygen) stimulated by emissions from the sun hitting our electromagnetic field were visible inland over Midhurst and the surrounding areas.

“There was such a lovely atmosphere on the Trundle with a number of other members of the public braving the bitter wind to come and ask if we could see the aurora and was it happening now: who would ever have thought we’d capture the aurora borealis from a hill by the sea in West Sussex!”

www.southdownsphotographic.org