THE skies of South Lakeland played host to an other-worldly light show as the stunning aurora borealis, better known as the Northern lights, ventured south.

Astronomers across Europe had been awaiting the dazzling aerial display but none predicted how spectacular it would be, reports Lisa Frascarelli.

As NASA announced that a coronal mass ejection a bubble of gas and charged particles associated with aurora was heading for Earth on Friday, sightings of the night sky glimmering red, green and pink were made in the Kentmere area where one local man, Gordon Fox, could not believe his eyes.

"I went up the Kentmere valley at about 7.30pm and I noticed a white cloud the same size as the curvature of the earth," he said. "Then I saw these amazing colours coming and going greens, golds, reds and pinks it was absolutely spectacular."

Realising he was witnessing the Northern Lights Mr Fox went to get his wife Barbara before watching the display for around an hour.

Physicist and astronomy lecturer at Lancaster University Peter Wade said although sightings of the aurora borealis were more common towards the North Pole they were occasionally visible in the North of England.

"There are supposed to be about 50 nights a year when some kind of display is visible however that doesn't mean a spectacle, it may just be a dreary little glow," he explained.

Auroras occur when electrically-charged particles thrown out by the sun enter the Earth's upper atmosphere. The particles react with gases in the atmosphere and begin to glow in bands of various colours, creating a beautiful aerial blaze.