Northern lights

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Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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Anybody in Scotland who gets to see the Northern Lights on a regular basis? Advice on a good location and time to see them would be appreciated.

A family friend who has terminal cancer wanted to see them before he goes. But as we know they don't always play ball when you visit. We wanted to give him the best chance of seeing them. The other option is Scandanavia or Iceland but logitstically that may be difficult with time..

I have friends in SW and Eastern Scotand who do see them but not often and quite irregualrly.

craig1912

3,273 posts

111 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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Think you are going to struggle in the summer months. Icelands “season” is September to April and even then not guaranteed.

Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
craig1912 said:
Think you are going to struggle in the summer months. Icelands “season” is September to April and even then not guaranteed.
I think/hope he is good until Autmn/Winter.

Snow and Rocks

1,800 posts

26 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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I live in rural Aberdeenshire and do see them from time to time but certainly not with enough regularity to plan a visit around.

There are some online solar activity "forecaats" but there is a lot of luck involved and you need to be in the right place at the right time. My evening dog walk has good views to the northern horizon and is well away from any streetlights which obviously increases my chances.

You won't see them in the summer as it doesn't really get dark at the moment so you're looking at maybe September onwards. I think Iceland or Northern Scandinavia would be your best bet - much stronger and more frequent sightings.



Edited by Snow and Rocks on Monday 27th June 09:05


Edited by Snow and Rocks on Monday 27th June 09:24

Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Snow and Rocks said:
I live in rural Aberdeenshire and do see them from time to time but certainly not with enough regularity to plan a visit around.

You won't see them in the summer as it doesn't really get dark at the moment so you're looking at maybe September onwards. I think Iceland or Northern Scandinavia would be your best bet.
Thanks, one option they were thinking aboiut was a autumn/winter cruise to Scandy but parts of Scotland are supposed to be on the same latitude as parts of Norway.



LimaDelta

6,507 posts

217 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
LimaDelta said:
Have you considered a night flight?

https://www.travelfox.co.uk/special-interest/north...
That looks a good option. Obvs you cant sit and do it in a hot tub or from a skidoo on a flight but I gues sthe view would be fab.

Snow and Rocks

1,800 posts

26 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Cogcog said:
Thanks, one option they were thinking aboiut was a autumn/winter cruise to Scandy but parts of Scotland are supposed to be on the same latitude as parts of Norway.
I'm not convinced that even Shetland is far enough North to make it a guaranteed thing. It's also probably just as easy to fly to Iceland or Tromso etc!

Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Snow and Rocks said:
I'm not convinced that even Shetland is far enough North to make it a guaranteed thing. It's also probably just as easy to fly to Iceland or Tromso etc!
I think they would do that oif he is well enough. Do you know how probable it is to se ethe NL in say Iceland?

take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey

5,071 posts

54 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
I've worked up at Dounreay many times in winter... Just about as far north the UK gets. Think I've seen them once whilst up there.

You really need to be Arctic circle to see them with some level of likelihood. I was in Levi in Finland and saw them once in a week... Which was typical by all accounts. The 'show' was spectacular, but not something I'd make special visit for if I'm honest.

Just be aware, -20 to - 40 darkness temps may be challenging for someone terminally ill.


Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
take-good-care-of-the-forest-dewey said:
I've worked up at Dounreay many times in winter... Just about as far north the UK gets. Think I've seen them once whilst up there.

You really need to be Arctic circle to see them with some level of likelihood. I was in Levi in Finland and saw them once in a week... Which was typical by all accounts. The 'show' was spectacular, but not something I'd make special visit for if I'm honest.

Just be aware, -20 to - 40 darkness temps may be challenging for someone terminally ill.
That is a very good point.

craig1912

3,273 posts

111 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Cogcog said:
I think they would do that oif he is well enough. Do you know how probable it is to se ethe NL in say Iceland?
I’ve stayed in Iceland 14 nights, 7 in September and 7 in November. Seen them once and then only briefly on top of a mountain at midnight. Iceland is probably not the best place and I think there is much more chance in North Norway.

Puggit

48,355 posts

247 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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A tool to help you plan... as you can see, it gives a 30-90 minute warning based on solar observations. https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minut...

As mentioned above, I'm afraid you'll almost certainly need to wait until winter AND be lucky.

liner33

10,642 posts

201 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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Cogcog said:
Thanks, one option they were thinking aboiut was a autumn/winter cruise to Scandy but parts of Scotland are supposed to be on the same latitude as parts of Norway.
More than latitude is involved imo, I spent a year in Newfoundland on the same latitude as Liverpool but would often see fantastic Northern lights , its was very routine



Alpacaman

917 posts

240 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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I'm on Skye and occasionally see them, a lot of the images you see online are ones that can only be seen using a camera. My neighbour has produced an app for tracking when they are likely.

https://aurora-alerts.uk/

The best view I ever had was 150 miles north of the arctic circle in November but again a lot is down to luck. Good luck with it.

ade73

432 posts

108 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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Get the Aurora app, its free and will show you when and where you can see them.

I went snowboarding in Ruka (Finland) in 2019 and saw them twice on 2 separate nights, using this app and a universities email alerts.

It gives you different levels of chance of seeing them on the map (you can set it for your location or just leave it on all alerts)

1-9%
10-29%
30-49%
50+%

I've been getting alerts from it in the last week that showed it on level 2 down to Newcastle.

I saw them in Whitley bay in February but it was barely visible and only really showed up after editing a photo in photoshop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpD9eG-J3bg

towser

919 posts

210 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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I've lived on the north coast for 50+ years as others have said they are difficult to plan a trip around - I've gone several years without seeing them and then there will be a period where the weather and atmospherics just come together and there will be 3-4 nights where they can be spectacular. Other times just a faint glow.

SAS Tom

3,398 posts

173 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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I stayed at the Garvault hotel in the highlands and saw them one night whilst there. Certainly wasn’t like the pictures, more like headlights on the other side of the hill. The owners said that most of the time you would only see it like the pictures with a camera.

toasty

7,441 posts

219 months

Monday 27th June 2022
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I'm not colour blind but all I saw were some fast moving grey clouds.

The camera saw this though.



I sincerely hope their experience will be more colourful than mine.

Cogcog

Original Poster:

11,800 posts

234 months

Monday 27th June 2022
quotequote all
Sounds like Scotland s too hit and miss. Like the flight idea if they give a higher chance, albeit throuhgh an aircraft window