'Weather bomb' storm above UK captured by Nasa astronaut in stunning photograph

Unusual combination of lightening storm and aurora created amazing photograph from above

Commander Terry W. Virts' photograph from the ISS (Terry W. Virts, via Twitter)

A Nasa astronaut has captured the moment the powerful weather bomb storm swept over the UK, posting the image on Twitter.

Commander Terry W. Virts, an experience astronaut who has logged more than 4,300 flight hours in more than 40 different aircraft, tweeted the picture yesterday from the International Space Station (ISS).

“Amazing photo timing!” He wrote, adding: “Lightning from the storm off the UK last week with Aurora”.

The image has already been favourited by more than a 1,000 Twitter users, who labelled the incredible image “gorgeous” and “inspiring”.

The potent combination of lightning and aurora – an electrical phenomenon caused by charged particles entering the atmosphere – created the usual sight captured by Mr Virts.

Adverse weather has caused disruption to thousands across the country in the past week, as snow, hail and strong winds were pushed across the country by a strong south-easterly weather front.

can expect the weather to calm down