Northern Lights Appear in Chiswick Night Sky

Display of colour could be seen in local parks

The Northern Lights seen from Homefields Recreation Ground in Chiswick
The Northern Lights seen from Homefields Recreation Ground in Chiswick. Picture: Richard Russell

Related Links

Sign up for our weekly Chiswick newsletter

Comment on this story on the

May 12, 2024

There was a very rare chance this Friday (10 May) night to see the Northern Lights in Chiswick.

Many people went to local parks across the area to benefit from reduced light pollution to see the lights, also known as the aurora borealis, which were visible across the UK where the skies were clear.

The pictures in this article were taken by Richard Russell in Homefields Park but other photographers took to parks across Chiswick to take this rare opportunity to see the bright pink and fuchsia coloured sky. Clear sightings were also reported from Dukes Meadows, the Thames Path and Southfield Recreation ground.

Hopes of another chance to see the lights on Saturday night appear to have been dashed with nobody, at this stage, contacting us to report sightings.

The phenomenon was caused by one of the strongest geomagnetic storms to hit the Earth in recent years prompting a rare solar storm warning from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This storm received the highest classification of G5 but fears of a possible impact on telecommunications and power infrastructure were not realised.


The Northern Lights in Homefields Recreation Ground. Picture: Richard Russell

This was the most intense solar storm since 2003 and the Sun is approaching a ‘solar maximum’ in an 11-year cycle where there are more Sun spots on its surface. These spots are made by Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) which cause huge volumes of charged particles to shoot out from the sun. These eventually hit the earth’s atmosphere and they create a range of colours between purple and green due to the high Oxygen and Nitrogen content. This has led to the Northern Lights being visible in the south of England occasionally this year, but this is the first time during this cycle that they have been seen in Chiswick.

More of Richard Russell's photos of the Northern Lights can be seen on his Instagram page.

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We’ve always done that and won’t be changing, in fact we’d like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we’d be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least two articles a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you’d like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

Bookmark and Share