Also known as Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights is a fairly rare occurrence in the UK, especially in the south.

But recently due to high solar activity and solar flares on the sun, the phenomenon has been popping up a lot closer to home.

On March 23 the lights were photoed over Lanivet near Bodmin. The images show a bright flare of red painted over starry night sky.

The lights were later photographed over Widemouth Bay in Bude by Nick Cannon.

The Kernow Weather Team explained: “These solar flares give out massive clouds of electricity-charged particles which interacts with the gases in the atmosphere producing a beautiful light show. Normally only seen at the poles but as the KP index was so high at 7, we were able to capture this phenomenon closer to home.”

The intensity or brightness of the Northern Lights are measured on the KP scale which ranges from 0-10.

The normal level usually sits between 1-4. At this level the lights can be seen from the top of Europe. However, when the KP index begins to move up towards levels 5 -10 or Geometric Storm level, the lights can be seen from the UK and further across Europe.