Stunning photo captures Northern Lights dancing in the sky above Souter Lighthouse in South Shields

The display was caught on camera by local photographer Steven Lomas at around 10.30-11pm, who was delighted to capture the amazing sight in all its glory.

Steven, 36, a civil service worker from Marsden, has captured the lights on a number of different occasions, but is still blown away by its magnificence.

He said: “It was really fabulous to see. It lasted pretty much all night.

"I’ve seen the Northern Lights now 50 or 60 times from South Shields, Northumberland and abroad and it never gets boring. Each display is different from the last one so it’s just as exciting seeing them now as it was seeing them for the first time.”

Read more: Met office issue South Tyneside weather warning

The Northern Lights are caused by ‘solar wind’ which cause electrically charged particles to collide with the Earth’s magnetic field and atmosphere.

The solar wind distorts the Earth's magnetic field as it approaches, allowing some charged particles from the Sun to enter the Earth's atmosphere at the magnetic north pole and the magnetic south pole.

As these charged particles "excite" gases in our atmosphere, they make make them glow.

The solar wind can cause the Earth's magnetic field lines to disconnect from the planet, and when they "snap back" into position, charged particles from the solar wind are again pushed into the Earth's atmosphere, causing aurora.

The more magnetic field lines disconnect and snap back, the further south the Northern Lights can be seen.