Thousands of people flocking to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights on Saturday night led to chaos at a number of beauty spots across Greater Manchester and the north west, it was reported today.
Cloud cover hampered another stunning aurora borealis light show after Friday night’s dazzling display, leaving star-gazers disappointed and met with only car headlights.
Picturesque Rivington, high above Bolton, was said to be ‘rammed’ with people who travelled to the area to try and see the lights. One report on social media on Sunday claimed it was ‘bloody carnage’ as thousands flocked to the rural location.
“Gridlocked and more light pollution up there than down in the cities with all the headlights still on whilst parked up,” said X poster @politicsranter.
“It’s absolutely rammed at Rivington, so much so that the fire service can’t get through to a fire because someone abandoned their car in the middle of the road, preventing them from getting through,” added another, @ATroalic.
Traffic surrounding Blackstone Edge, moorland near Rochdale on the boundary between Greater Manchester and West Yorkshire, was also said to be ‘ridiculous’
X poster @JosephMGriffin2 wrote on Saturday night: “The traffic on the A58 over Blackstone Edge is just ridiculous – almost at a standstill – because a photo of the lights from up there last night went massive. It’s windy and quite cool, misty and really those headlights are not helping. Blooming people, eh?”
Thousands also reportedly flocked to the Peak District.
X user @Helenintgarden posted: “So many people driving around the peak district last night… and parking up absolutely anywhere possible… to sit and star at the sky for a couple of hours…”
Debbie Howard – @Debbie_Howard1 – posted a picture of gridlocked traffic near Burbage, as thousands flocked to nearby Stanage Edge.
She wrote: “Yay! I saw the northern lights! But not the ones I was expecting. Just all us northerners blinding each other with our car headlights hoping to catch the Aurora Borealis in the Peak District.
“It was actually great to see so many people out there hoping for a sighting of the Aurora. Appreciating nature. I guess we just didn’t anticipate so many doing the same thing.”
Greater Manchester was treated to a riot of shimmering colour on Friday night, but sadly the scenes weren’t repeated on Saturday, although a BBC weather presenter has predicted ‘potential’ for Sunday night.
The aurora borealis is so visible at the moment because, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the earth was hit by a G5 geomagnetic solar storm on Thursday. A G5 rating is considered “extreme” and the strongest level of solar storm. The cause of the storm was a “large, complex” sunspot cluster, 17 times the diameter of Earth.
Pink and green bands of light were seen across the UK and Europe on Friday night, with sightings in the UK as far south as Suffolk,
Although temperatures may reach 27°C for some this weekend, the Met Office have issued two yellow thunderstorm warnings for Sunday. They cover a large part of England and Wales from 12 noon until 10pm.
Geomagnetic activity however, enabling the aurora borealis to be visible, is expected to increase again on Sunday night, despite the warnings of thunderstorms.
