Northern Delights! Aurora Borealis is seen for first time in UK this winter 

These incredible pictures reveal the first time the Northern Lights were seen in the UK this year as they made a Scottish loch glow bright green. 

Photographer Maciej Winiarczyk, who is based in Wick, Caithness, on the far north of mainland Scotland, was able to capture the sunning images yesterday because of the darker nights.

One of the beautiful images was taken at Sinclair’s Bay in Caithness and the other was captured last night at Loch Watten.

The Northern and Southern Lights are natural light spectacles triggered in our atmosphere that are also known as the ‘Auroras’.

One of the beautiful images was taken at Sinclair’s Bay in Caithness and the other was captured last night at Loch Watten (pictured)

There are two types of Aurora – Aurora Borealis, which means ‘dawn of the north’, and Aurora Australis, ‘dawn of the south.’

The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

Usually the particles, sometimes referred to as a solar storm, are deflected by Earth’s magnetic field.

Auroras are typically green due to collisions with oxygen particles, but ‘exciting’ different atmospheric gases can produce a blue, violet, yellow, or even red colour. 

As these reactions occur at the magnetic poles this is why auroras are most likely to be seen in Scotland and the northernmost parts of the UK. 

But during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles, including hydrogen and helium.

These collisions emit light. Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are common.