PICTURES: The Northern Lights turned the Irish sky green last night

Last night, the Northern Lights lit up the Irish sky with a stunning display of colour and light.

Wed, 18 Mar, 2015 - 00:00

Ciara Flaherty

And the timing couldn't have been more perfect.

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Enjoy with this beautiful image of Ireland at night from the @Space_Station. pic.twitter.com/4rtVemdafX
— International Space Station (@Space_Station) March 18, 2015

I saw the Northern Lights from the plane. The sky turned green for Patrick 💚
— Candice (@candysomething) March 17, 2015

The phenomenon occurs when explosions caused by a coronal mass ejection (CME) on the Sun cast magnetically charged particles into space. Most of these particles are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field but as it is weaker at the poles, some of those particles then collide with gas in the atmosphere causing the light display in those area.

Last night, the Aurora was visible much further south across the UK, Scandinavia, Russia and parts of the US. This was a result of a particularly strong CME which left the sun on Sunday.

On social media, Irish people were sharing some gorgeous photos of the event with reports coming in from as far south as Waterford.

Corona #aurora #donegal @romclaughlin pic.twitter.com/tT9Da8I4ie
— Daragh McDonough (@DaraghDonegal) March 18, 2015

@Aurora_ireland A slight tripod issue resulted in my car as a tripod! But beginners luck kicked in at Shroove... pic.twitter.com/yK8apq8K83
— Moved to Theads (@PatrickDuddy_) March 18, 2015

#Aurora from Giant’s Causeway last night -the sky exploded with light! pic.twitter.com/sRH9VQ3uqj
— Martina Gardiner (@martinagardiner) March 18, 2015

The best #aurora since 2001 absolutely amazing and in Waterford!! pic.twitter.com/FndpJo0YkI
— Aurora alert Ireland (@Aurora_ireland) March 17, 2015

@Aurora_ireland Newport, Co Mayo pic.twitter.com/gAulTjYe8M
— Darren Moran (@Darrmoran) March 17, 2015

Darren Moran also filmed this stunning timelapse video of the sky lighting up over Newport in Mayo which gives an idea of how the Lights move across the sky.