The aurora hunters chasing the perfect pictures of the Northern Lights

A huge burst of energy from the sun directing radiation towards earth meant the Northern Lights were visible across parts of the UK earlier this week, as far south as the Isles of Scilly.

Amateur and professional photographers went racing to find the perfect spot to capture the phenomenon - and some of them have been speaking to the BBC.

Throughout last Sunday, John Gravett received several messages from friends saying there was going to be a really good chance of catching the aurora that night.

But, as he looked out from his home in Keswick in the Lake District, all he could see were clouds.

"At about 11:30 I was about to give up and go to bed, when I took a last look and I could just see a little hole in the clouds and a couple of stars," he said.

"I popped the camera on the tripod, took a photo and it was showing green, so I just knew I had to go out."

The 65-year-old, who has been a photographer all his life, drove to nearby Bassenthwaite Lake and by the time he arrived the sky was completely clear.

Most people can see very little of the display with the naked eye, having to photograph it to see the full spectrum of colours, he explained.

"The first exposure I took there - it blew me away - absolutely amazing," he said.

"I just stood there for about half an hour while it peaked and disappeared."

"The figure in the photo is actually me," he said. "I thought, I need a figure in this and there was not a soul around.

"It really was just a remarkable evening."

Fellow professional Andrew Fusek Peters said he had also been checking information on Facebook groups and apps hoping for a lucky break that night.

"It seemed every single time previously an alert came in, and people said you've got to get out, I've either missed it or the weather has been wrong," he said.

But on Sunday there were clear skies over Shropshire and so he "hared up the Long Mynd", a moorland forming part of the Shropshire Hills at Church Stretton.

There was an "extraordinary" amount of people there, he said. "It was like a traffic jam on busy stretches."

But the photographer, who had been working with the National Trust at the site for eight years, knew exactly where to go.

"There was a good spot at one of the bog pools to get the foreground of the water as well as the aurora, and what I was hoping for was to get the aurora reflected," he explained.

"And as you can see from the shot, I did that - and then even more amazing I think that either I caught a shooting star or it was one of the Lyrid meteors.

"To get a picture of the aurora, in Shropshire, in the Midlands, it's just fantastic."

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Laura Scott also received an alert on her phone about the phenomenon.

The 38-year-old from Ambleside in the Lake District decided to drive to the nearby high point of Shap after finishing work at the local rugby club.

"The Northern Lights have been on my bucket list for as long as I can remember," she said, but explained she had no camera with her, only her iPhone.

"I started to take a few pictures and then the sky absolutely exploded," she said.

"I had no tripod so I had to use the bonnet of my car to steady myself," Laura said.

"It was actually quite emotional, I think I welled up at one point. For years I've been trying capture them."

One of those sending out information to aurora hunters on Sunday was James Rowley-Hill.

Himself a keen photographer of the night sky, the 48-year-old garage owner from Happisburgh, Norfolk, co-runs the AUK - Aurora UK Facebook group, with more than 30,000 members.

The aurora storm levels were expected on Sunday "but what happened that night was just kind of unprecedented", he said.

Parts of Scotland, northern England and possibly Norfolk were expected to see the lights, he explained, "but when it came in, it really came in with a big hit".

Unfortunately cloudy conditions in Norfolk meant he had no chance of seeing it himself.

"I was watching all the live cameras across Europe and was on Twitter with all my followers that were sending me pictures.

"It was one of those crazy moments, I was like, no way, it can't be this good."

One of those grateful for the work of Mr Rowley-Hill was Jono Kimber, who captured the lights reflected on the Mere at Ellesmere in Shropshire.

"My success comes from the the aurora followers and fans who run the groups and who provide us the tools to nip out when we get the chance," he said.

"More often than not you go out and you get disappointed," he said, but he had also headed out on Sunday night.

"I just glanced up, as you do, and I saw a streak in the sky and thought, 'is that because I've just been staring at my phone?'"

After pressing the camera release to take a six-second exposure, "boom, it was there", he said.

"It was just bright pink, with the beams and I was like whoa, from literally nothing one minute to full on beamage, as it's called."

Technology and social media has really helped proliferate the likelihood of seeing when it's going to happen, he said.

"I was so thrilled with what I'd got I messaged James and he was like 'get in!' - he literally celebrates everybody's success."

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