TikTokers fooled after ‘Northern Lights’ sighting was just Premier Inn sign

Two TikTokers were left red-faced after filming what they thought was the Northern Lights colourful show over the UK - but was only the purple signage from a Premier Inn.

Karim Akhtar and Solomon Laurent were returning home from a night out on Friday in Norwich when the duo spotted what they thought was an unmistakable bright hue lighting up the Norfolk sky.

While meteorologists from the Met Office said the unique light phenomena was visible 'from top to tail across the country', the student pair got a little ahead of themselves while looking for the Northern Lights in East Anglia. Karim and Solomon, both 22, laugh in amazement in a TikTok video which has since generated nearly 6million views, unable to believe their luck.

Seconds later, however, the pair are left in hysterics after realising the colourful glow was actually the trademark Premier Inn purple beaming up from one of the chain's Norwich hotels.

Karim, a pharmacology student at the University of East Anglia, told Yahoo News UK: “I was with my mate Sully coming back from the pharmacology ball, and I was walking by my accommodation and thought we saw the lights.“We ran down the road while looking up, thinking they looked weird. We looked down and saw a Premier Inn.”

The false sighting would have been doubly disappointing for the pair, who'd also travelled to Iceland in January to see the Northern Lights, but failed as conditions were too cloudy.

A Premier Inn spokesperson told Yahoo News: "There’s no need to search the skies, Premier Inn is a beacon of light and can bring the Aurora glow directly to your room, without needing a camera to see it. Rest easy under the enchanting purple glow of our light up headboards, knowing that you can experience this wonder every night of the year from the luxury of one of our comfy beds."

The bands of pink and green light from aurora borealis were seen across the UK and in parts of Europe on Friday night after an “extreme” geomagnetic storm caused them to be more visible, according to the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The news of the increased solar activity led to people staying up late so they could catch the Aurora Borealis without spending money on an international trip. Millions of people in the UK were able to see the spectacle on Saturday evening, with social media being flooded with images taken from the comfort of their homes.

Last weekend, millions of people across the world were treated to the Northern lights, thanks to the serious solar storm. According to the NOAA, the G5 geomagnetic storm was expected to hit on Thursday, and people were given a warning that it could impact GPS and power grids. The bands of green and pink were visible in Northern Ireland on Friday night, and most of the country saw it on Saturday evening.

The news of the increased solar activity led to people staying up late so they could catch the Aurora Borealis without spending money on an international trip. Millions of people in the UK were able to see the spectacle on Saturday evening, with social media being flooded with images taken from the comfort of their homes.

Not everyone was that lucky, as some expressed their frustration on social media at missing out on the rare spectacle.

Some people, like the students, confused lights from man-made sources as belonging to the Aurora Borealis. For example, in New York, people thought they could see a small part of it, but to their surprise, it was, in fact, the lights from the Kosciuszko Bridge reflecting onto the clouds. Tiktoker Alexandra Rothwell cleverly filmed the green light shining from a traffic light, as it looked very similar to some of the photos people posted. "Look, no, I cannot actually believe what I'm seeing," said the Tiktoker, laughing at the end.