“Looks like we might be getting the Northern Lights over Essex”.

“Yeah right”, I thought.

There’s usually a few clickbait stories each year, which after negotiating pop up ads and paragraphs of nothing, turns out to be around 1%.

Late Friday night, I was scrolling through Facebook when I saw a photo on a local group page, the sky alight with colour.

In a panic I packed up my gear and cycled towards my favourite spot, Maldon promenade park.

I’ve photographed Byrthnoth a thousand times over the years. Sunrises, sunsets, storms, big freezes, high and low tide. He is always my go to when something eventful is occurring.

As I reached the entrance to the park, I switched off my torch and waited for my eyes to adjust. Within a few minutes the sky was illuminated purple and green, as the solar storm took hold. I later discovered those colour represent medium activity.

There was one other photographer, gear already set up, slightly visible in the distance. We spoke briefly and then both snapped away in a frenzy, unaware how long the spectacle would last.

Once activity increased, the sky filled with vibrant reds and even with the naked eye, it was quite something.

Half a dozen locals had joined by this point and we were all in awe of what we were witnessing.

Overall I was very happy with my captures. I wish I had more and in hindsight there’s a few more ideas I would have liked to have explored. But considering my hands were shaking with excitement as I set my camera up, I feel I kept my focus and created some great keepsakes.