The Northern Lights have been spotted in Havering, prompting shock and awe from people in the borough who did not expect such a sight so close to home.
Scott Pinson, a chef at Stay Restaurant in Butts Green Road in Emerson Park, today (June 17) said it was "fantastic" to witness a spectacle most people in the country have never seen before.
On Saturday (June 14) at around midnight, Scott said that staff and the last remaining customers having a drink at Stay were able to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights.
"It was fantastic to see it at the back of our restaurant," Scott said of the atmospheric phenomenon known as the Aurora Borealis.
"It's amazing, that's call you can say really," he added. "A friend of mine went to Norway three or four months ago and it cost him £1500 a week and he didn't see them.
"[But] we saw them vividly in Havering."
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Scott was not the only person surprised to see the Northern Lights, which are said to be caused by charged particles from the sun hitting gases in the earth's atmosphere and typically occur around the North Pole.
Hayley Williams also took a photo of the Northern Lights and said it was a beautiful experience.
"It felt surreal," Hayley, a member of Havering Community on Facebook, said.
Mary Gray, who posted a video compilation of the Northern Lights to Facebook, had previously taken photos in late May when there was a prior occurrence.
This photo was taken in Harrow Lodge Park in May, Mary said, meaning Havering has seen the Northern Lights at least twice over the last few months.
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