We’ve had biblical rain over the last three months in the UK, so when there’s finally a break in the cloud it’s time to pull on the wet-weather gear, get out on the bike and ride.

The Northern Lights or aurora borealis are a spectacular natural light display caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Ironically, despite a surge in solar activity, the relentless cloud cover and constant rain have made them almost impossible to spot…until now.

On a bitterly cold night, completely out of the blue, we finally caught a glimpse of this incredible phenomenon. Unfortunately, thanks to a lack of foresight I hadn’t packed my camera but I did have my phone. The image above was taken handheld, with no tripod, no long exposures, no AI and no party tricks – just what the phone sensor captured.

Perhaps mobile phones really do have a place in photography after all.