A MAGNIFICENT event that took place in outer space created spectacular illuminations in the county last Thursday night, writes CATHERINE SHOVLIN.

The 'Aurora Borealis', or Northern Lights, set off an amazing reddish glow in the skies that keen astronomer Barry Crawford said he had seen nothing like before.

From his Lingen home he was able to enjoy the impressive sight that, unlike last year's much-hyped eclipse, does not occur according to schedule.

Hereford Cathedral School physics teacher Joan Gladwyn saw 'pale green curtains of light' in the sky just after midnight as she drove from Ross to Holme Lacy.

She said: "By the time we reached home, patches of red light in the east and west had spread so that, at the peak of the display, about two thirds of the sky was glowing with this wonderful light.

"It was an amazing sight, especially out in the country where the sky is pretty dark. What was so wonderful was that it was visible at all in Herefordshire."

The rarely-sighted phenomenon is caused by solar flares of particles that have broken off from the sun. It is usually restricted to northerly areas like Scotland and Alaska.

Mr Crawford first spotted the distant activity at 8.30pm. By midnight, the view had become so spectacular that he got his wife out of bed and they sat in their garden until 2am admiring the amazing array of colours.

Although he has seen images of the Northern Lights in books, he said it was nothing like experiencing the real thing.

He added that the sun was very active at the moment so there may well be even more illuminations in the coming weeks or months.

"If it is half as good as this one, it would still be spectacular," he said.