THE northern lights were visible last night, and we've searched through our camera club to find the best pictures of the illuminated Somerset skies.

Some of the best pictures taken of the aurora borealis in Somerset include Glastonbury Tor and areas in Highbridge.

Generally, the best chances of seeing the aurora is generally around the hours of local midnight, 10pm - 2am. However, the aurora may appear at any time during the night depending on geomagnetic activity.

Some tips for picturing the best photograph of the Northern Lights include: 

Avoid cloudy skies

The aurora sits 100s of km up in the sky above the height of the clouds so you'll need cloud-free skies.

The sky also needs to be dark. Get away from streetlights. A bright full-moon will also wash out the light from faint aurora.

Get the location sorted

Notably, the Northern Lights, or the Aurora Borealis, are known to appear regularly in Scandinavian countries like Sweden, Norway, and Iceland.

To see the Northern Lights in the South West is rare, it is important to have a good viewpoint of the north.

A coastal location or on top of a hill may be good options to try. During extremely strong displays the aurora might be overhead, or to the south of your location so have a good look around.

The illuminated skies are also seen frequently in Finland's Lapland.

Getting the photo

A camera is more sensitive than our eyes and will pick up the colour of the aurora. A faint display may appear white or grey to the eye but a long-exposure photo will pick up the greens, reds or purples.

Use a camera where you can manually set an exposure time.

A lot of smartphones now have a night mode to help with this. Choose a long exposure time to collect the most light.

To avoid camera shake consider using a tripod.

If you want future pictures posted online or in print, you can join our Camera Club Facebook Group to submit your best photos.