´óÏó´«Ã½

A display of the Aurora Borealis lighting up the night sky above the Black Isle in the Highlands was captured in an image by a Highlands-based photographer.

Martin Macbeath photographed the Northern Lights earlier this week.

The aurora is caused by the interaction of solar wind - a stream of charged particles escaping the Sun - and Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere.

When weather conditions are favourable, Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland offer some of the best places to observe the aurora, or Northern Lights as the phenomenon is often known.

This week's display came during a geomagnetic storm which ´óÏó´«Ã½ Weather Watchers dubbed the start of the new "aurora season".