Rebecca Sherdley

BBC News, East Midlands

BBC Weather Watchers/Mark Griffiths

A bright yellow aurora lit up the skies over Normanton Church at Rutland Water

Multi-coloured hues from the Northern Lights illuminated the skies across Nottinghamshire and Leicestershire.

Against a backdrop of star-filled skies, BBC Weather Watchers captured a series of spectacular images of the Aurora Borealis on Wednesday, between 22:00 and 23:00 BST.

A geomagnetic solar storm strengthened the aurora, bringing it southwards towards the United Kingdom.

The Northern Lights are caused by the interaction of solar wind – a stream of charged particles escaping the Sun – and our planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere.

BBC Weather Watchers/Tammy

Burton Joyce in Nottinghamshire got treated to a purple hue in the sky

BBC Weather Watchers/AdamO

The Northern Lights over Southwell in Nottinghamshire showed a mixture of yellow, purple and blue

There have been frequent sightings of the aurora in the UK over the last year.

The sun is currently at a “maximum” in its 11-year solar cycle.

This means there are lots of sunspots on the surface which are like volcanoes and occasionally erupt.

They are also known as Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) and release extra material and energy out to space.

BBC Weather Watchers/Danielle

The view from one of Leicestershire’s best known landmarks – Bradgate Park’s Old John tower

If directed towards Earth, our magnetic field pulls the energy into Earth, entering our atmosphere at the poles.

Fast solar winds are likely on 20 April, according to the Met Office Space Weather forecast, meaning “active” intervals are possible.

BBC Weather Watchers/Alice

Even before night fell, the aurora of the Northern Lights was captured over the village of Edith Weston in Rutland

BBC Weather Watchers/Danielle

The Northern Lights left a purple hue over Newtown Linford

Weather Watchers/Tammy

Burton Joyce had a vivid purple sky