It’s time for the bright lights to shine high above as the year’s aurora season begins in the Northern Hemisphere.

While this year has been highly active for auroras already, across the Northern Hemisphere, auroras are best seen between September and April.

The further north you head, the better chance of witnessing the phenomena.

For those of us here in the UK & Ireland who don’t have the time or ability to head to Scandinavia or Alaska can look to a spot closer to home. Northern Scotland rests on the same latitude as Alaska’s Nunivak Island and Stavanger in Norway.

It is possible to see an aurora away from the far north of Scotland, but it requires some luck. Most major cities have too much light pollution, so national parks such as the Lake District are ideal.

The Northern Lights can descend over England, Wales, and Ireland during times of increased solar activity, for example during geomagnetic storms, as we have seen multiple times in 2024.