Rare show of Northern Lights dazzles North America

Hues of pink, purple and green streaked the skies in North America overnight in a dazzling display of Northern Lights.

Weather officials said the aurora, which was seen from California to New York, as far south as Arizona and north into Canada, was "fairly unusual".

The event was categorised as a "severe geomagnetic storm" and received the second highest rating in strength, a G4. The strongest would be a G5.

A less severe storm is expected this weekend.

"We got more of an impact than we expected," Bill Murtagh, programme co-ordinator at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather and Prediction Center, told the BBC. read more