AN AMATEUR photographer from Tavistock took this stunning image of the night skies over Pork Hill, looking back towards the town last night – as the world went in search of the magical Northern Lights.

Danny Phillips is a roofer by trade but after hours likes to take his Canon SLR camera and smartphone out on to the moors to capture the beauty and clear his head.

Last night, Monday, he headed up to the Pork Hill car park on the Princetown road to spy the Northern Lights, a solar flare glowing green and red as it reacted with our atmosphere, visible in parts of the UK on Sunday and last night.

Danny, 38 and originally from Sheffield, said today, Tuesday: ‘Obviously the Northern Lights were what everyone was going out to look for last night.

I went out to Pork Hill at 10 and I stayed until midnight. That was said to be the best time to see the Northern Lights. There is a slight green tinge in the image, but I’m not sure if that is the Northern Lights.’  

What appears to be a comet in the picture is in fact, he says, ‘the moon reflected off my camera lens’. The image was taken with his smartphone, using the automatic night lens settings.

‘There were about ten cars there last night in the bottom end of the car park and I waited until they had gone, until midnight, to take that photo,' he said.

He is planning to head out again tonight, on the moor near Princetown.