STRONGEST aurora in 20 years - G5/KP9 geomagnetic storm - Herne Bay, Kent, UK - 10th & 11th May 2024

An incredible geomagnetic storm hit Earth just after 16:30 UTC on the 10th of May and helped to generate once-in-a-lifetime showings of the aurora borealis over the United Kingdom and other parts of Europe with this timelapse starting at 21:24 BST which is when naked eye visibility began for the aurora and ending at 02:27 BST when cloud began to roll in. The crescendo of the aurora began at 23:10 BST and reached peak intensity at 23:30 BST with the aurora corona overhead and the aurora stretching in every direction to the eye as well as visible vibrant red to the NE and to the west.
It was an incredible sight to the eye with massive thick bright white pillars erupting out from the oval and stretching all the way to the zenith, and these filled the sky for at least an hour before beginning to subside slightly and the oval moved back further north after ending up ~20/30 degrees above the SE horizon. The storm was comparable to previous storms in 2003 and 1989 which also caused widespread auroras and was something that many people may not see again in their lifetimes. KP9 levels were reached just after 21 UTC on Friday and 00 UTC on Sunday. It is likely that this aurora event was the most documented in history for the UK.

[@NikoStorm]

Beautiful! Nice video!! 👍👍

[@FinchAdventures]

Phenomenally epic event and a great capture, Jamie. Congrats!

[@JohnPalfreys]

Excellent compilation. Lovely, wasn't it?

[@DameDevilDog]

Beautiful!

[@celeno31]

nice!

[@Southern-Storm]

Very nice 🙂, was it still twilight at the beginning of the video?

[@jamiem6364]

Indeed, was amazing how obvious it was at twilight!