Photographer captures Northern Lights over Souter Lighthouse

Photographer Anthony Skordis captured this wonderful image of the Northern Lights dancing above Souter Lighthouse on Tuesday, September 13.

Aurora-spotters say September to March is the best time of year to view the phenomenon in the UK, and many were posting across the country to report their first sightings of 'the season'.

The ethereal spectacle is caused by charged solar particles interacting with the Earth's magnetic field.

The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis to give them their proper name, are caused by activity on the surface of the sun.

Royal Museums Greenwhich explains solar storms on the the star's surface give out huge clouds of electrically charged particles which are capable of travelling millions of miles.

Those that reach the Earth are either deflected away, or captured by the Earth’s magnetic field.

They then accelerate down into the atmosphere towards the North and South poles into the atmosphere, which is why the lights are concentrated at the magnetic poles and more visible in northern and southern areas closer to the poles.

In the south, they are known as aurora australis, or the Southern Lights.