THE 'wows' could be heard from garden to garden, street to street late last night - as the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, put on a spectacular sky show across East Lothian and beyond.

The most powerful geomagnetic storm in nearly 20 years produced a mesmerising solar light display.

And county residents, from Dunbar to Musselburgh, in the Lammermuirs to Longniddry, were bowled over by the natural phenomenon in the skies over their homes.

Beautiful ribbons of multicoloured light were clearly visible with the naked eye over vast swathes of the county.

And the good news is that the Northern Lights should be visible again tonight. 

East Lothian Courier: Crowds gather at Longniddry Bents to view the Northern Lights

The impressive Aurora Borealis, usually only seen from northern parts of the British Isles, was visible across large parts of the UK overnight, including Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, unusually, southern England.

The display was triggered after America's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its first severe solar storm warning since 2005 yesterday as a huge geomagnetic storm raced towards Earth.

The NOAA said the G5 geomagnetic storm, which is considered extreme and is the strongest level of geomagnetic storm, hit Earth on Thursday and brought with it the risk of affecting communications, GPS and power grids.

East Lothian Courier: The Northern Lights from Fa'side Castle

Aurora displays occur when charged particles collide with gases in the Earth's atmosphere around the magnetic poles.

Here are a selection of images from East Lothian Courier Camera Club members and Courier readers.
To join the camera club or view the images, go to East Lothian Courier Camera Club on Facebook.