There was a mystery bright light in the sky over Skelmorlie last Wednesday night which co-incided with a power cut at around midnight.

Amanda Leonard posted late last Wednesday night on our Facebook site: “Ok, so did anyone see that massive gren light that lit up the sky on the west coast around midnight with the mini power cut at the same time?” Hazel Flora O’Neill responded that she didn’t see it “but the lights went dim and then the power went off in Skelmorlie - it was very weird!” Readers asked it was possibly the aurora overhead which could have caused the unusual bright light in the sky, but Amanda Leonard insisted that it wasn’t the case in her view.

She said: “No, it was definitely not the aurora borealis which I have seen in person further north. The light last Wednesday night was a big flash akin to lightening except it was bright green, and lasted a few seconds longer than lightning, and there was absolutely no sound. Also it was cloudy last night with a smir of rain. I don’t think you can witness the aurora borealis through cloud.” Paul Hutchon posted on Facebook that there appeared to be a natural explanation behind the bright green light overhead. and said it seemed to be an electrical storm as a result of a M3 X-ray flare solar flare from the sun.

Paul posted a link from ‘The American Space Center’ on our Facebook site which stated: “We’re seeing low level geomagnetic storms and have issued a warning for G1 (minor) geomagnetic storms. Even higher level geomagnetic storming is possible, with both solar wind speed and magnetic field strength at elevated levels.” Although it is a rare occurrence, similar green lights from another electrical storm were seen over Largs around about a year ago.

'News' reporter Calum Corral said: "It sounds very similar to an electrical storm. I witnessed it last year in Largs, and the sky lit up quickly in the blink of an eye repeatedly for a few minutes yet it was very eerie as there was no sound. It was only after I checked up on the internet afterwards that I realised it was an electrical storm." Such solar flares can lead to interference of power, and power surges. Hopes of seeing the aurora in the local area during recent weeks have been dashed despite speculation that it might be seen in some low lying areas. However, it has been seen clearly from Caithness this week, and further north in Scotland, while Arran Weather have also tweeted sightings of the ‘Northern Lights’ during the past year due to the lack of light pollution on the island.