The Northern Lights waterfall

Like a cascading waterfall of violet and green light, these spectacular photos show the Northern Lights as they ripple across the Norwegian sky.

Taken near Tromso in Norway over the last week, these shots of the aurora borealis are a reflection of recent solar activity which has caused some amazing light shows.

The light is created by explosions on the surface of the Sun which throw out electrically charged particles towards Earth.

When the solar wind carrying the particles hits our atmosphere after its 3million-mile journey, it is swept towards the poles by our magnetic field where the particles react with ions in the atmosphere, causing Mother Nature's greatest light show.

Aurora photographer Thilo Bubek was at a fjord near Tromso a few days before to capture his magnificent shot of the Northern Lights reflecting off the clouds and lake.

Thilo, 44, said: 'I was otherwise busy in the early evening but watched the graphs of the actual magnetical activity. About 11pm I decided to drive out for a tour to catch some images of the strong auroras.

'I choose Ersfjord, a little place nearby Tromso because of the nice surrounding and last but not least the nice reflections on the fjord. 

'Normally we like to have clear skies, but with strong auroras like yesterday some clouds really enhance the images.'

The second picture shows an amazing 'needle' formation like an exploding firework. It was taken by amateur snapper Ole Christian Salomonsen just outside Tromso.
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