A photo taken by Ian Lennon of the Northern Lights in Naul, Co Dublin. Ian Lennon Ian Lennon

THE NORTHERN LIGHTS made a visible return over parts of the country overnight. 

Ian Lennon captured them (above) in Naul, Co Dublin and over Co Carlow between 2am and 4am, but were visible right across the island of Ireland, as far south as Cork.

The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Centre said that successive solar flares and eruptions from the Sun have set the scene for a major aurora display over the next couple of nights.

Just keeps going and these are just holding phone in long exposure mode of 3 seconds. Amazing display of Northern Lights captured in Carlow. pic.twitter.com/ws2JQWUcs3

— Carlow Weather (@CarlowWeather) November 12, 2025

They are likely to be visible again later tonight with the arrival of another potentially strong solar storm, but visibility could be an issue as Met Éireann’s forecast predicts plenty of cloud cover tonight.

Last night’s display was unexpectedly strong. Two eruptions of plasma from the sun, know as coronal mass ejections, were initially forecast to arrive separately, but early indicators are that they hit Earth close together.

The northern lights have been visible frequently over the past year, but rarely do they reach the level of being visible in mid-latitude regions with ease; this week offers our best chance, if conditions are right.

People across Ireland saw the northern lights light up the skies in both May and October last year after massive solar flares and associated eruptions of plasma from the Sun.

Got any pics? Send them through to pictures@thejournal.ie