LOCALS took beautiful photos of the northern lights, which could be seen in Barrow, Ulverston and in Bolton-le-Sands on the other side of Morecambe Bay. 

It is unusual for the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis, to be seen this far south of the Arctic Circle. However talented photographers in our area managed to catch this rare occurrence on the evening of Sunday 26 February by using long exposure settings. 

The Met Office said that more of the UK than the north and Scotland could see the Northern Lights on the evening of Monday 27 February. 

The Mail: It is unusual for the aurora borealis to be seen so far from the Arctic Circle It is unusual for the aurora borealis to be seen so far from the Arctic Circle (Image: Joe Sides)

The aurora borealis appears as pale green, pink shades of red, yellow, blue and violet in the direction due north.

The lights extend from 50 miles to as high as 400 miles above the Earth's surface. 

According to the Met Office, the northern lights 'occur as a consequence of solar activity and result from collisions of charged particles in the solar wind colliding with molecules in the Earth's upper atmosphere.' 

The Mail: Camera Club member Liz Withey also managed to capture the Nothern Lights across the Bay in Bolton-le-Sands Camera Club member Liz Withey also managed to capture the Nothern Lights across the Bay in Bolton-le-Sands (Image: Liz Withey)

It continued: "Solar winds are charged particles that stream away from the Sun at speeds of around 1 million miles per hour. When the magnetic polarity of the solar wind is opposite to the Earth's magnetic field, the two magnetic fields combine allowing these energetic particles to flow into the Earth's magnetic north and south poles.

READ MORE: Northern Lights to be visible in the UK's night sky tonight

"Depending on which gas molecules are hit and where they are in the atmosphere, different amounts of energy are released as different wavelengths of light. Oxygen gives off green light when it is hit 60 miles above the Earth, whilst at 100-200 miles rare, all-red auroras are produced. Nitrogen causes the sky to glow blue yet when higher in the atmosphere the glow has a purple hue." 

The best conditions to view lights are when the sky is dark and clear of any clouds. 

The northern lights are typically only viewed across the UK 'under severe space weather conditions.'