The probability of seeing the northern lights and a meteor shower across Scotland’s skies tonight is high, the Met Office has said.

The Aurora Borealis has been intensified by a powerful burst of charged particles from the sun known as a coronal mass ejection.

It means that two-night sky events could be visible from Scotland, and the Met Office has said that anyone looking up could even see as many as 100 meteors every hour.

A statement from the Met Office said: “The Perseid meteor shower peaks tonight and viewing conditions will generally be good, with clear skies for many of us and perhaps as many as 100 meteors every hour.”

“A coronal mass ejection from the sun may also given an enhanced chance of seeing the aurora in northern areas

According to the Met Office, the meteor shower and the aurora will be visible from 8pm on Monday until 6am on Tuesday. The best chance of seeing it will be between the hours of 1am and 4am.

UK-based Aurorawatch has also issued a red alert due to the geomagnetic activity. The red alert means that ‘it is likely that aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK.

What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights are caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the Earth's atmosphere.

The colours occur due to different gases in the Earth's atmosphere being energised by the charged particles.

Nitrogen and oxygen are the two most common gases in the atmosphere, with nitrogen emitting purple, blue and pink colours and oxygen emitting green.