Large parts of the UK, including East Lothian, were treated to a beautiful display last night, Sunday, February 26, as Northern Lights lit up the skies.

For anyone who missed the grand display, not to worry, the Met Office has said the light phenomenon could return again tonight!

It tweeted a series of pictures taken by members of the public which captured the light phenomenon in North Uist in Scotland, North Wales, Cambridgeshire and Shropshire.

Many East Lothian residents also captured images of the lights above the county including in Cokcenzie, Mussleburgh and Tranent.

Ayr Advertiser: A spectacular image of the Northern Lights, above Cockenzie. Image: Braden Campbell A spectacular image of the Northern Lights, above Cockenzie. Image: Braden Campbell (Image: newsquest)

The national weather service said: “A coronal hole high-speed stream arrived this evening combined with a rather fast coronal mass ejection leading to #Aurora sightings across the UK.”

The Met Office also said there is a chance of seeing the northern lights again on Monday night.

What causes Northern Lights?

Royal Museums Greenwich explains on its website that the lights are caused by solar storms on the surface of the sun giving out clouds of electrically charged particles which can travel millions of miles and collide with the Earth.

Most particles are deflected away but some are captured in the Earth’s magnetic field and accelerate down towards the north and south poles, colliding with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the observatory.

The lights are the product of this collision between atoms and molecules from the Earth’s atmosphere and particles from the sun.

In November last year, strong light displays were witnessed across Scotland.

A Met Office spokesperson said the rare sightings of the aurora borealis further south in the UK on Sunday night were due to the “strength” of a geomagnetic storm and the “strip of cloudless skies” in southern regions.