Our dear old Sun has been turbulent lately, with the largest solar storm since 2005.
As a result, streams of high-energy particles have been bombarding Earth and being deflected by our magnetic field, forming an impressive display called the “aurora borealis” or “northern lights”. The strength of the particle stream, coupled with a moonless night sky, meant that the aurora should have been visible over much of Britain last night (usually, it can only be seen in the far north of Scotland).

Which probably accounted for the 100% cloud-cover around my house.

:-(