Northen lights in UK?

[Cassiopeia]

Hi, i live in Suffolk and i really want to see some northen lights. But i dont know when and where i can see them in the UK. Any ideas where i could see them? And what time?

Thanks

[Peter Drew]

Hello Cassiopeia. As the name suggests, you need to look northwards. A significant auroral event should easily be observable at your latitude, we have seen some spectacular displays over the years in the NW. Most aurora in my experience seem to be unexpected, I've not yet seen a predicted one. There are some websites which give slar flux details and at times of high activity there is a better chance of an event. Best thing is to keep an eye out for unusual glows to the north and if an aurora develops let as many people know as you can!

[barkis]

If you are interested in the Aurora, you could build yourself a detector to monitor the earths magnetic field.

Either a Fluxgate magnetometer, or a simple Bell Jar one.

The earths field is pretty stable, but when disturbed by the solar wind after a solar event, the disturbance is detected, and could indicate a possible aurora is imminent. No guarantees though, it would need to be a biggy to move an aurora so far south, although it has happened on occasion.

You have a better chance if you book a holiday in the extreme north, Finland, Iceland or Norway perhaps.

Lots of people do that, but you have to be very keen..

Ron.

[nicnac]

a little village called Melvich on the north coast of scotand in november.

The Northern Lights in Scotland

[Capricorn]

Try Welcome to AuroraWatch

also, Solar Terrestrial Dispatch - Leaders in Space Weather Forecasting Services

But as said you will basically have to head northwards AND you need the right conditions.

Seen 2 lots from a plane travelling to/from Canada, but we would have been Greenland/Iceland latitudes.

Have a search for flights that are for aurora, not sure there are any but could be worth a try. Just wondering if someone organises such things.

[hemihaggis]

as the first post suggests they are to the north lol but looking north wont help .....you would have to travel north

[Dangerous-Dave]

Shetland is the best place in the UK, simply by virtue of its northern latitude.

This guy often posts stunning aurora shots on Astrochat:

http://www.austintaylorphotography.com/

Welcome to Facebook

[Astroscot2]

We get the occasional nice display from Glasgow, looking forward to the next solar max

aurora Page

Mark

[oceanheadted]

There were some aurora over Aberdeenshire last week, but I missed them

[DarkerSky]

In the late 80s and early 90s when the sun was very active I saw several magnificent displays from North Wales. Some of the lights even reached the zenith. It is an incredible experience - to see what look like large beams of light ascending from the horizon, and the red and green hues that pulsate in the sky. With the sun only slugglishly coming out of a prolonged minima, we wont see many widespread displays for a while yet.