Seeing the northern lights in Scotland?

[callmedave]

So im off to Scotland on the weekend of 12/13 th November.

Ive been told the nothern lights will be visibile.

How far up do i need to go? im staying level with Glasgow but happy to drive up a bit to see them, any tips on what time to head out? What to take with me?

Is anyone else going up to see them?

[PRTVR]

I have just installed an app on my android tablet that shows activity, it's aurora watch UK, it alarm when there is a chance of seeing it plus a rough idea of where you might see it. ie northern Scotland or northern England if it's strong.

[Riley Blue]

This is the site to monitor: http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk

[cptsideways]

Its not quite that simple

Weather - Must be clear skies
Moon - No moon or minimal, full moon blanks it usually
Altitude - Helps to see over any mist/fog
Lights - As far away as possible with no towns cities to the north (Scotland is good for this)

Then if all the above are met you'll need it to coincide with a solar storm which never (rarely) coincides with the above as I have found, or when your up that way. Your best bet would be to head off when a storm is forecast.

I was up near Knockhill last week when a storm kicked off, missed it due to the weather though others saw it further north.

In 2009 it was clearly visible one night in Dorset, though that was a once a liftime event.

[cptsideways]

And a red alert has just been issued! Clear skies down south too

Good chance of seeing in most parts of the UK if its a red alert Midnight onwards I'd suggest

[24lemons]

cptsideways said:

And a red alert has just been issued! Clear skies down south too

Good chance of seeing in most parts of the UK if its a red alert Midnight onwards I'd suggest

Well I'm up in Achiltibuie and after 3 beautiful clear nights, the cloud cover is 100%. Just been out to Achnahaird beach to see if we could see anything and all we could see was a glow on the horizon to the south which could have been anything. well, I'm back indoors with a glass of wine now! Might venture out a bit later...

[PRTVR]

24lemons said:

cptsideways said:

And a red alert has just been issued! Clear skies down south too

Good chance of seeing in most parts of the UK if its a red alert Midnight onwards I'd suggest

Well I'm up in Achiltibuie and after 3 beautiful clear nights, the cloud cover is 100%. Just been out to Achnahaird beach to see if we could see anything and all we could see was a glow on the horizon to the south which could have been anything. well, I'm back indoors with a glass of wine now! Might venture out a bit later...

I thought they are called the northern lights for a reason, might be worth looking to the north.

[RobDickinson]

PRTVR said:

I thought they are called the northern lights for a reason, might be worth looking to the north.

Excellent tip for new players!

Aurora is caused by charged particles in space interacting with our ionosphere.

These come from the Sun, fired out of sunspots (typically) by coronal mass ejections.

So you need a sunspot, it needs to erupt, this needs to be pointed earthwards, then it takes 18-48 hours for it to get here, then it gets cloudy.

[24lemons]

PRTVR said:

I thought they are called the northern lights for a reason, might be worth looking to the north.

Haha! Top tip! We were looking to the north and saw sod all. Too much cloud tonight which is so frustrating!!

[RobDickinson]

The KP index is currently between 6 and 7, which is pretty good, so worth going out having a look if you have clear skies and are northish...

[callmedave]

Currently im almost as far south as you can get (can see France from here)

Nut looking forward to heading to Scotland and hopefully seeing them

Thanks for all the Tips.

[brrapp]

Full moon on 14th November so I doubt that you'll see the lights that weekend.

[leyorkie]

Facebook friend posted photos from the Isle of Mull from last night. Taken at 3:00 am though but looks good.

[24lemons]

Been out again tonight and definitely saw a lightness on the northern horizon which wasn't there yesterday. Hard to say for sure if it was the lights or not but based on photos posted by people claiming to have seen them, it looks likely. Just need to get rid of the cloud cover.

[NRS]

PRTVR said:

24lemons said:

cptsideways said:

And a red alert has just been issued! Clear skies down south too

Good chance of seeing in most parts of the UK if its a red alert Midnight onwards I'd suggest

Well I'm up in Achiltibuie and after 3 beautiful clear nights, the cloud cover is 100%. Just been out to Achnahaird beach to see if we could see anything and all we could see was a glow on the horizon to the south which could have been anything. well, I'm back indoors with a glass of wine now! Might venture out a bit later...

I thought they are called the northern lights for a reason, might be worth looking to the north.

This week when there has been gaps between the clouds I have often been having to look to the south to see them, It's been pretty spectacular, but often it's been difficult to see much between the clouds, but it's been so strong some of the clouds are partly back-lit with greens/purples where the lights are dancing behind them.

[24lemons]

Where are you NRS? Last night in Achiltibuie and it's cloudy again. Last night at midnight it was clear and there was a definite green glow in the sky. Unfortunately the hills behind the house meant that we couldn't see down to the horizon. Will have another go tonight so fingers crossed!!

[NRS]

24lemons said:

Where are you NRS? Last night in Achiltibuie and it's cloudy again. Last night at midnight it was clear and there was a definite green glow in the sky. Unfortunately the hills behind the house meant that we couldn't see down to the horizon. Will have another go tonight so fingers crossed!!

Arctic Norway - a small place called Harstad. It's been very active this past week or two. Just been out watching it for the last 30min or so and it was pretty strong without going crazy. It's just died down now though.

[Rh14n]

Just seen Facebook photos from a friend of mine of the Aurora from the Isle of Skye last night.