If you dream of seeing the northern lights, then this year is your year.

This is because 2024 will be the solar maximum, the period of greatest solar activity. The solar cycle lasts approximately 11 years, with a minimum and a maximum roughly every 6.5 years.

Throughout a solar cycle, sunspot numbers, indicative of solar activity, rise during the solar maximum and decline during the solar minimum, providing a measure of the overall intensity of the cycle. The solar maximum is the highest peak of activity during the solar cycle.

Scientists discovered that the solar maximum, named Solar Cycle 25, is peaking throughout most of 2024, remaining strong into early 2025 too.

The good news from that is, the more solar activity, the brighter and stronger the aurora displays.

In the solar maximum, increased sunspot activity will result in increased solar wind and an influx of charged particles in the atmosphere.

As a result, the chance of frequent and intense aurora displays rises, as does observing the northern lights at lower latitudes, which is exactly what we have already been seeing.