How to see the northern lights in the UK
Last updated 4 November 2026
To see the northern lights from the UK, wait for an aurora alert from AuroraWatch UK or the Met Office space weather forecast, then get to a dark spot away from street lights on a clear night and look towards the northern horizon. Scotland, northern England, Northern Ireland and north Wales have the best chances, and during strong geomagnetic storms the aurora can be seen and photographed across the whole of the UK.
Where in the UK
- Best: northern Scotland, including the Highlands, Caithness and Sutherland, the Outer Hebrides, Orkney and Shetland.
- Good when activity is stronger: southern Scotland, Northumberland and the rest of northern England, Northern Ireland and north Wales.
- Possible in major storms: anywhere in the UK, southern England included.
Wherever you are, a dark site with a clear, low view to the north matters more than a few miles of latitude, and north-facing coasts are ideal. Dark sky places such as Galloway Forest Park, Northumberland and Kielder, and Tomintoul and Glenlivet in the Cairngorms are popular for aurora watching; see the best stargazing spots in the UK.
Knowing when to look
AuroraWatch UK, a free service run by scientists at Lancaster University, measures disturbances in the Earth's magnetic field and issues colour-coded alerts:
| Alert | What it means for UK viewers |
|---|---|
| Green | No significant activity. Aurora unlikely to be seen by eye or camera anywhere in the UK. |
| Yellow | Minor activity. Aurora may be visible by eye from Scotland, and by camera from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. |
| Amber | Possible aurora. Likely visible by eye from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland, possibly elsewhere; photos likely from anywhere in the UK. |
| Red | Aurora likely. Likely visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK. |
Alerts come through AuroraWatch UK's social media channels, Telegram and third-party phone apps. An alert means activity is happening now, so be ready to go out at short notice.
For the days ahead, the Met Office runs a space weather forecast, including the likely strength of geomagnetic activity on the Kp index, a scale from 0 to 9. Higher numbers mean stronger storms and a better chance of aurora further south. As a rough guide from the Met Office, Kp 6–7 storms can make the aurora faintly visible from the UK, and severe Kp 8–9 storms can bring it overhead.
On the night
- Check the cloud forecast. A strong storm is no use under thick cloud. Look for clear spells in the Met Office forecast.
- Get away from light. Street lights and town skyglow drown faint aurora; even a few miles out of town helps.
- Face north and look low. From most of the UK the aurora shows as a glow or arc low on the northern horizon, sometimes with rays or pillars rising from it.
- Let your eyes adapt. Allow 20 to 30 minutes in the dark, and keep away from bright screens.
- Be patient. Displays come and go, brightening and fading over minutes or hours.
- Avoid the full Moon if you can. Moonlight washes out faint aurora; see our full Moon dates for 2027.
Why it looks better on your phone
Faint aurora often looks grey or colourless to the eye, because our eyes see little colour in dim light. Cameras gather light for several seconds and record colour far better, so a phone photo can show vivid green and pink in what looked like a pale glow. The Met Office notes that the aurora often looks fainter to the eye than in photographs for exactly this reason. For the best results:
- use night mode, or a manual "pro" mode with an exposure of several seconds;
- rest the phone on something solid or use a small tripod, as any movement blurs the picture;
- turn the flash off, and tap to focus on a distant light or a bright star;
- include some landscape, such as a tree line or the coast, for scale.
What causes the aurora
The Sun constantly blows out a stream of charged particles, the solar wind, and from time to time hurls much larger clouds of material into space in eruptions called coronal mass ejections. When these reach Earth they disturb its magnetic field, causing a geomagnetic storm. Charged particles are funnelled into the upper atmosphere around the magnetic poles, where they strike oxygen and nitrogen and make them glow, 100 kilometres or more above the ground. Oxygen gives the common green and, higher up, red; nitrogen can add blue and purple tints, especially along the lower edge of a display.
The aurora usually forms in an oval around the magnetic North Pole, over places such as northern Scandinavia, Iceland and Canada, and the UK lies south of it. According to the Met Office, in moderate storms the aurora is usually overhead further north, around Iceland or the Faroes, but because it is so high up it can show faintly low on the northern horizon from the UK. Only severe storms push it overhead here, and that is rare.
Is now a good time?
The Sun's activity rises and falls in a cycle of roughly 11 years. In October 2024 NASA and NOAA announced that the Sun had reached the solar maximum period of the current cycle, Solar Cycle 25, and the years around it brought remarkable displays: in 2024, strong storms produced aurora seen and photographed far into southern England. Activity declines gradually after the maximum, but big storms still happen in the declining years, so alerts remain worth having.
Heading north for the aurora? The dark, northern skies that suit the aurora suit a named star too. Cassiopeia and Ursa Major, two of the constellations we name stars in, never set from the UK, so they are up on any aurora night. A named star is magnitude 6.5 or fainter, so take binoculars or a small telescope and the coordinates from its certificate. See how to find a named star.
Common questions
Can you see the northern lights in the UK?
Yes. The northern lights can be seen from the UK during geomagnetic storms, most often from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. During strong storms they can be seen and photographed across the whole country, including southern England.
What is the best time of year to see the northern lights in the UK?
Autumn, winter and early spring give the long, dark nights needed to see the aurora from the UK. Around midsummer the sky does not get fully dark, so even when the aurora is active it is much harder to see, especially in Scotland.
Which direction should I look for the northern lights?
North. From most of the UK the aurora appears as a glow, arc or rays low over the northern horizon. Only during very strong storms does it spread high into the sky or overhead.
How do I get northern lights alerts in the UK?
AuroraWatch UK, run by Lancaster University, issues free alerts through social media, Telegram and third-party phone apps. The Met Office space weather forecast gives a view of geomagnetic activity over the coming days.
Why can my phone see the aurora when I can't?
Phone cameras take long exposures that gather more light and record colour better than the human eye can in the dark. A faint grey glow to the eye can show up as bright green or pink in a photo.
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