WATCH: Scientists credit solar flare for spectacular aurora display

Spectacular aurora displays seen across the northern hemisphere in recent days have been caused by a huge solar flare with the energy of a billion hydrogen bombs, UK scientists have said.

The largest solar flare for more than 12 years - and the eighth-largest since modern records began in 1996 - erupted from the sun on Wednesday and has been captured in high detail by a team of researchers from the University of Sheffield and Queen's University Belfast.