IN PHOTOS: Northern Lights shine in Canadian skies with more to come

Canadians in several provinces were treated to a stunning display from the northern lights on Tuesday night and many could see them again on Wednesday night.

On Tuesday, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center issued a watch for a potential eruptions from the sun, saying one would reach Earth on Tuesday night with another expected to arrive midday on Wednesday.

In Alberta, a red aurora borealis dazzled viewers with its red hues in places like Hanna and Airdrie.

Other parts of the province saw dazzling green and red lights crisscrossing the skies.

Saskatchewan was also treated to the lights, with a multitude of colours covering the sky.

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According to NOAA, people in several provinces and territories will have a good chance of seeing auroras once again Wednesday night as another solar storm arrives, with mapping by the agency showing people from the Yukon and British Columbia to Manitoba and Quebec all within the viewing area.

The map, however, shows it’s unlikely those in parts of southern Ontario near Lake Erie, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and the most northern part of Nunavut will have the same luck seeing the lights.

Aurora borealis occurs when solar flares or coronal mass ejections expel charged particles into space. Carried by solar winds, the particles enter the Earth’s atmosphere near the north and south poles. As those charged particles pass through the atmosphere and collide with oxygen and nitrogen particles, energy is discharged creating the colourful display in the night sky.

—with files from Global News’ Drew Stremick