Were you lucky enough to spot the Northern Lights earlier this month?
You may think that the Northern Lights are a phenomenon only usually spotted up in Scandinavia and northern parts of Scotland. But this month has seen an incredible display in Anglesey! Visitors to this little island off the coast of Wales were treated to fantastic views of the aurora borealis early in March 2016.
The northern lights are formed when our planet's magnetic field is disturbed by solar wind. The charged particles in the solar wind combine with the charged particles in space; when they enter the upper atmosphere they loose their energy and the resulting ionisation causes light of different colour to appear as though it is dancing across the sky. The closer you are to magnetic north the more likely you are to see something, however, the greater the disruption to the earth's magnetic field, the further south the lights appear.
You'll need to be in a rural area with a clear sky. That's why a lot of people were seeing the displays close to Henllys. It was thought the spectacular sight was due to an increase in geomagnetic activity. The building, formerly a Franciscan friary, sits in 150 acres of hillside parkland, with views of Beaumaris castle, the Menai Strait and the mountain ranges of Snowdonia. It's worth keeping tabs on various twitter feeds: AuroraWatch UK or the Met Office for example for the best chance of catching the next light displays, because this is a spectacular location from which to see them from.
