Northern Lights illuminate social media

The colourful Northern Lights have shone further south than usual due to two solar flares passing by Earth.

The flares reacted with the Earth's atmosphere which creates the phenomenon, which is also known as Aurora Borealis.

Solar storms occur often, especially during peaks in the solar cycle, and don't directly harm people, but can trigger major events for Earth such as radio blackouts or geomagnetic storms.

We take a look at some of the best pictures.