Photographer Ekant Veer captured this timelapse footage of an aurora over Canterbury's Lake Ellesmere on Thursday night.

A rare and dazzling night-time spectacle has been photographed above Canterbury.

The southern lights made an appearance on Thursday night, filling the dark sky with purple and green waves.

It is uncommon for aurorae to be visible so far north. They are typically seen near the north and south poles.

EKANT VEER/SUPPLIED The aurora over Lake Ellesmere. It bleeds into the lights from Christchurch, right.

Photographer and academic Ekant Veer ventured out to Lake Ellesmere to capture the lights, successfully returning with a panorama and a timelapse.

He said his panorama was stitched together with 12 photos, and was carefully composed – it shows the aurora on one side of the Milky Way and the lights of Christchurch on the other.

See more of Veer's work on Facebook and Instagram.