A photographer has captured striking images of the Milky Way’s core in the skies over the north of England.

Owen Humphreys, who works for the PA news agency, captured the stunning sight in the early hours of Tuesday morning at Bamburgh Lighthouse in Northumberland.

He said: “I’ve been after the Milky Way core lying horizontal for a long time but weather is weather and unless it all comes together it’s not possible.”

The core was not due to be visible until after 3am but Mr Humphreys arrived at around midnight to scout the location and do some test shots.

He said conditions were “perfect” to get the photograph he was after.

“This is the best time of the year to capture the Milky Way horizontal but it is a small window of opportunity due to the sunrise times, and as we move forward into May the sky will be too bright.

“Luckily, a cold minus 1C night with a clear sky was perfect, which we don’t get to often.”

The Milky Way galaxy contains hundreds of billions of stars, including our own sun.

It is shaped like a spiral, with arms stretching out from its core, but from Earth appears only as a band of cloudy light to the naked eye.