An orange glow in the sky caused confusion among Teddington residents last night and early

this morning.

The glow appeared late yesterday evening at around 9am and was still visible at 6am today around the Lock area.

It could also be seen in Twickenham, St Margarets Ham, and even Richmond.

So, what was causing the glow?

Residents have several theories.

The Northern Lights?

The Aurora Borealis is usually seen in countries further north than England.

But over the next 48 hours they will be visible over parts of the UK, according to a TimeOut article published yesterday afternoon.

Ham resident Rachael Tate shared the article to the comments section of a social media post about the glow.

"Coincidence?" she wrote.

Others, however, thought this was unlikely.

"Not sure it can be the Northern Lights as they appear high up in the atmosphere and it's very cloudy tonight," Matt Rogers from Strawberry Hill commented.

In a separate post, Hampton Hill resident John Gilbert added: "You wouldn't be able to see the northern lights this far south over London.

"You would be lucky to seem them on the horizon even from North England."

Indeed, Ben Shearer of Richmond Hill was scathing about the suggestion.

"Anyone thinking it's the northern lights... If there was that amount of sodium in the upper atmosphere to make the northern lights appear orange, and in SW London, it wouldn't be beautiful," he said.

"It would be horrifying and the end of life as we knew it. Or, 2020, as we'd call it as our lungs burned."

Indeed, the TimeOut article says that the lights will only be visible as far south as the Midlands - meaning this explanation can be ruled out.

A Fire?

Matt Rogers had a different theory.

He commented: "To be honest I'm worried it's a large fire"

Back in 2012 a similar glow was seen around Twickenham rugby station.

At the time, Twitter user @SingleinShires posted: "Weird orange glow coming from the pitch of Twickenham as we flew over. Is that cos English rugby is on fire?"

And only last month, reports of an orange glow in Portsmouth led to fire services being contacted.

Last night, however, neither Richmond or Twickenham fire stations were contacted about the glow.

Instead the real cause seems to be something more mundane.

Twickenham Stadium lights?

Many residents were convinced the glow came from lights at Twickenham Stadium,

"Twickenham stadium pitch lights, the weather is picking up the light," wrote John Gilbert.

"It's the stadium. First match was last week," added Julian S. from Kew.

Though the stadium is 2.7 miles from Teddington, this seems to be the most likely explanation.

As one commenter pointed out, the same thing happened back in 2017 and was caused by

the pitch's golden 'grow lights.'

Responding to residents' confusion about the glow this morning, the stadium's Head Groundsman Jim Buttar posted a clarification.

"This is why! Major light refraction but plenty of warmth to back up the under-soil heating," he wrote, alongside a picture of the lights.

Since at least the early 2000s, mobile lighting rigs have been used by large stadiums to help maintain playing ground conditions in the winter, when there is less sunlight.

After a round of reseeding, the lights are put on to encourage the seeds to germinate.