THIS picture was captured in the early hours of Friday morning by a Newport student who managed to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights as they shimmered high above the city skyline.

It was taken at around 12.45am on January 10, from George Street Bridge, by 20-year-old Ami Tyler, who studies Business and Law at the University of South Wales, Newport.

She had ventured outside along with her flatmate, Meg Redman, 21, and took the photo with her Canon EOS 550D camera.

Scientists had predicted that the Northern Lights could be visible to South Wales stargazers late last week.

The Northern Lights, a natural light display which usually takes place in the Arctic regions, appear as shimmering green waves of light when atoms in the Earth’s high-altitude atmosphere collide with energetic charged particles from the sun.

It is only visible in this part of the world if the skies remain clear.

Miss Tyler, who is originally from Middlesbrough currently lives in a flat in Pill, said: “We heard about it so we thought ‘why not?’

“We weren’t really sure if it was (the Northern Lights) or not at first – we were looking in the wrong direction to begin with.”

The third-year student added: “It was going on for quite a while – 10 minutes or so.

“It was a clear sky when we went out but it started to rain a bit and cloud over so we went home.

“It came out much clearer on my laptop once I got back to my flat. If you didn’t know it was there, and if you weren’t looking, you wouldn’t have seen it.”