The Met Office has said that it is unlikely that anyone in the UK will be able to see the northern lights tonight due to the cloudy forecast.

The northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, will be more visible than usual due to a solar flare heading towards Earth, bringing the lights to lower latitudes.

AuroraWatch UK, a service run by Lancaster University that alerts users to possible aurora sightings, said there will be increased activity between 9pm – 9pm tonight, and then 2am – 7am.

According to the Met Office website, the best place to view the lights are in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern parts of England and Wales.

However, the cloudy nature of the weather for the UK tonight means spotting the lights are unlikely.

ITV weatherman and TV presenter Alex Beresford told his followers on Twitter: “There’s a chance to see the aurora tonight, more so in the north.

“Lots of solar activity and a release of plasma from the sun is set to collide with earth’s atmosphere amounting in this beautiful light display. Spoiler - could be cloudy but fingers crossed.”

The best conditions to see the northern lights are clear, dark skies with little to no light pollution.

If you do want to try and catch a glimpse of the lights, 4am on Wednesday October 13 is the optimum viewing time.