West Midlands skies lit up by Northern Lights
BenBThe colours of the aurora borealis have been captured by photographers in the skies over the West Midlands.
The vivid pinks, greens and yellows illuminated the region as well as other parts of England on Tuesday evening.
The Northern Lights appear when atoms in the Earth's high-altitude atmosphere collide with energetic charged particles from the Sun, creating light.
Photographers who stayed up to catch a glimpse of the spectacle shared their images with the BBC.
Joe WilliamsSightings are much rarer during summer in the northern hemisphere when there are only a few hours of darkness.
Jack March 
Mr Twister Aurora borealis
By BBC weather forecaster Simon King
The aurora borealis can happen at any time of year but a major factor to seeing it, of course, is having dark skies.
Sightings are likely to become more regular as we approach the next solar maximum, when the Sun experiences peak activity, in July 2025.
Throughout the summer, the window of opportunity is perhaps only a few hours at most when it is very dark.
Now we're into autumn and the nights are getting longer, we've had our first widespread spotting of the Northern Lights.
Seeing it in north-east England and Cumbria isn't too uncommon but for it to occur so vividly this early on in the autumn is less likely.
AlexG595
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