Incredible photographs of the Northern Lights were captured in a rare sighting above Norfolk.

The natural phenomenon – also known as Aurora Borealis - is typically seen nearer to the Arctic Circle in locations such as Norway and Iceland.

Meteorologist Dan Holley was able to catch the lights last night (September 18) in parts of south Norfolk. 

Eastern Daily Press: The Northern Lights caught on camera near MethwoldThe Northern Lights caught on camera near Methwold (Image: Richard Hedges)

The BBC Look East weather presenter said: "A glimpse of the aurora in south Norfolk on Monday evening — a lot of the green colours lower down were washed out by fairly substantial light pollution/haze, but some occasional magenta beams appeared."

He said the northern lights were not very visible with the naked eye, and used an eight second exposure on his camera. 

Eastern Daily Press: The Northern Lights seen from Hockering The Northern Lights seen from Hockering (Image: Mark Sedgwick)

Aurora is caused by atoms and molecules in our atmosphere colliding with particles from the sun, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich.

The wavy patterns of light are caused by the lines of force in the earth's magnetic field, and the different colours are made by different gasses - the green is characteristic of oxygen, while the purple, blue or pink are caused by nitrogen.