Breathtaking images show the Northern Lights over Ireland last night
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Breathtaking images show the Northern Lights over Ireland last night

THE Emerald Isle turned an even stronger shade of green on Tuesday night after the Northern Lights appeared above the skies of Ireland.

The natural light display – also known as Aurora Borealis – is a relatively rare sight in Ireland and Britain due to our southerly latitude when compared to countries closer to the Arctic Circle.

Luckily, the ever-reliable Irish public were on hand to capture the spectacle in areas across the island of Ireland.

Images taken in places as far apart as Donegal, to the northwest, and the Boyne Valley, to the east, were all treated to the lightshow.

Aurora occurs when charged particles from the Sun are blown into the upper atmosphere by solar winds and deflected away by Earth’s magnetic field.

The breathtaking colours seen wherever the Northern Lights appear are caused by the electrically-charged particles colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere such as oxygen, nitrogen and carbon dioxide.

Check out the stunning images below…