The aurora borealis paints the skies in shades of magenta over the East of England

From the east of England, stunning crimson and magenta hues can be seen in the sky due to the Northern Lights.

Reports of sightings extended to Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, and Suffolk.

The solar wind, a stream of charged particles departing the Sun, and Earth's atmosphere interact to produce the lights.

A little after 19:00 GMT on Sunday, Richard Rawling saw the aurora on his phone camera in Hingham, Norfolk, and was "absolutely amazed".

Some people, like Mr. Rawling, who are avid observers of the show, use an app to notify them when there's a chance they might see the Northern Lights.

"The aurora app indicated it might be visible and I thought we'd take a quick look to the north," he explained.

"We've seen the lights in Norway and Finland, but seeing the sky lit up red from our back garden was amazing - I could not believe it."

Dan Holley, a meteorologist for Weatherquest and a BBC forecaster, had earlier told followers on X (now Twitter) to gaze to the north if they had clear sky. Though not quite dark, Aurora is easily seen with the naked eye."

Following his instruction, a number of people sent their pictures to the BBC Weather Watchers website.