Beautiful display of Northern Lights over North Sea prompts plane to make 360 turn

The Northern Lights are for many people a once-in-a-lifetime phenomenon to witness and even then scores of people go all their lives without having witnessed the spectacular aurora borealis in reality. Well a handful of passengers flying over the North Sea on an EasyJet airplane got lucky. Monday evening was potentially be remembered as one of the most extensively photographed nights from above ground level, specifically for those fortunate individuals who were flying from Iceland to the United Kingdom. This is because an active geomagnetic storm caused a spectacular display of vivid and vibrant aurora borealis, which appeared exceptionally dazzling when viewed mid-flight from the stratosphere.

In order to provide all passengers on an Easyjet flight traveling from Iceland to Manchester, England, with a view of the enchanting northern lights, the pilot made a slight deviation by flying the aircraft in a complete 360-degree loop.

An @easyJet flight just made a 360 turn over the North Sea. The Northern Lights are very strong tonight as well, so the reason was probably to allow passengers on both sides of the aircraft to see the fantastic #AuroraBorealis
https://t.co/IVJ81cqRKM pic.twitter.com/5cY8Hr2tPZ

— Flightradar24 (@flightradar24) February 27, 2023

Many passengers posted the beautiful scenes to social media

Thanks to @easyJet full crew for dipping the lights and allowing us to fully enjoy this beautiful sight from KER-LGW pic.twitter.com/5ROG6KT4uX

— Michelle Coyle (@michellehump3s) February 27, 2023

Shout out to the Edinburgh crew of @easyJet, after leaving Reykjavic last night the pilot radioed ATC to get clearance to do a loop back to allow all passengers the opportunity to see The Northern Lights… pic.twitter.com/vw8ijMBjbt

— Sheeni (@sheenib) February 20, 2023

A massive thank you to the pilot & crew on @easyJet flight EZY6942 going from Iceland to Edinburgh this evening.👏🏻👏🏻

A spectacular aurora took off & we were all treated to a full 360° turn to get a view of it - not your average flight & a fabulously kind act of service! 🌌 pic.twitter.com/X0kIsq5k4Y

— Clodagh Cremen (@Clodagh_C) February 26, 2023

Amazing flight home last night with @easyJet EZY1806 @easyJet_press from Reykjavik to @manairport @manairportPRESS Northern Lights spectacular and a full 360 circle round from the pilots to show everyone onboard Thank You!@BBCNWT @itvnews @BBCScotlandNews pic.twitter.com/UZ6TYezrV2

— Sarah Hitchen (@sarahhitchen2) February 28, 2023

Passenger Adam Groves, in particular, was delighted with the maneuver. "An amazing way to top off a special trip where I proposed to my fiancé," he wrote on Twitter. Pilots of other flights reportedly performed similar turns to give everyone a view of the charged plasma from the sun colliding with Earth's magnetic field.

An amazing way to top off a special trip where I proposed to my fiancé pic.twitter.com/ORp770iprS

— Adam Groves (@APTGroves) February 28, 2023

Northern lights grace British skies

The spectacle was witnessed by numerous residents in Great Britain on ground too. On Sunday night, a mesmerising display of the northern lights illuminated the sky across Britain and Ireland, showcasing a breathtaking array of shimmering greens, purples, and pinks. This celestial phenomenon, also known as an aurora, is typically only visible near the Earth's magnetic north and south poles, where electrically charged particles from space collide with gas molecules in the upper atmosphere. 

Easyjet out the window tonight coming back to London from Glasgow pic.twitter.com/DFlLy5zWWA

— Richard K 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 (@soberich) February 27, 2023

The optimal places to observe the Northern Lights are typically in high-latitude areas closer to the Arctic, such as in Scandinavia. In the United Kingdom, Scotland and certain areas in northern England are typically the only regions fortunate enough to experience the aurora.

On Monday, UK's Met Office said: "Strong solar activity means another chance to see the Northern Lights tonight." "Northern Scotland is favoured to see the Aurora overhead, but sightings closer to the horizon are possible as far south as southern Britain - *if* you have clear skies."

On Sunday, the meteorological office said a "coronal hole high speed stream" had combined with "a rather fast coronal mass ejection" leading to sightings across the UK.

A coronal hole high speed stream arrived this evening combined with a rather fast coronal mass ejection leading to #Aurora sightings across the UK@MadMike123 in North Uist@Jon9tea in North Wales@paulhaworth in Cambridgeshire@alex_murison in Shropshire pic.twitter.com/8JhqxPbcFK

— Met Office (@metoffice) February 26, 2023

NASA astronaut tweets stunning image of Northern Lights from space

NASA astronaut Josh Cassada on Tuesday also shared an "absolutely unreal" view of the show from the International Space Station.

Absolutely unreal. pic.twitter.com/pah5PSC0bl

— Josh Cassada (@astro_josh) February 28, 2023