AN Oxenhope man managed to take this beautiful image of the Northern Lights from just outside his home village.

Although it is relatively rare for the stunning phenomenon to be seen this far south, Matthew Heaton was able to capture it on camera on November 7.

Mr Heaton explained: "The photo was taken looking north from near Leeshaw Reservoir, Oxenhope, at 10.30pm.

"I used a long exposure of about 15 seconds.

"This photo was possible due to a class G2 geomagnetic storm in progress, resulting in the aurora being seen much further south than normal."

Mr Heaton, 36, added: "I have lived in Oxenhope all my life, and have been photographing the Northern Lights from here for the last 12 years.

"I usually manage to see them once or twice a year – it all depends on the weather and solar activity."

The aurora is caused by particles from the solar wind interacting with air molecules in the earth's atmosphere.

Mr Heaton, who is director of a Halifax-based plastics company, said he was alerted to the latest visible aurora via an app called AuroraWatch UK, which is run by scientists at Lancaster University.