What are the Northern Lights?
Seeing them in the flesh is on every person's bucket list that I know - to witness it from my own back garden was pretty special. Did you get a glimpse of the Northen Lights?
Dancing swirls of pinks and blues (very fitting for Baby Loss Awareness Week, but that's another post for another day), they really were so magical.
The Northen Lights isn't something I've been necessarily clued up on before, it isn't my forté ... but having seen them myself and marvelling in their magic, I thought I'd do a bit of research to try and find, and then share, where you're most likely to catch them in the UK.
First up - what are the Northen Lights?
According to space.com, the light show is actually a particularly violent solar event, where "energised particles from the sun slam into the Earth's upper atmosphere" ... thankfully we're surrounded by a magnetic field to protect us from these, and the magnetic pulls from the North and South poles draw the energy there, interacting with the atmosphere, hence the aurora being created.
I imagine it's a lot like a chemical reaction, where you combine two different chemicals and see how they react. Combining the sun's energised particles and the Earth's atmosphere essentially creates this visible aura of colour.
That's about as much as I understand when it comes to the ins and outs.
Where can I see the lights?
They're actually notoriously difficult to see with the naked eye and people often have a better shot at seeing them through the lens of a camera where the colours are amplified - your phone is sufficient in most cases.
The most northerly place in the UK is Shetland so would, naturally, be the most ideal place to try and catch the lights. There's a part of Shetland that is closer to the Arctic Circle than to London! You'd want to find somewhere with minimal sky/light pollution too, to heighten your chances, so out in the sticks makes sense.
Hadrian's Wall, Northumberland
Northumberland International Dark Sky Park (yes it's actually called that!) boasts the darkest skies in England, so it makes an ideal spot for star or sky gazing. The Northen Lights can be seen here when they're at their peak - you're more likely to see them at the equinoxes/solstices... so in March, April, September or October.
Snowdonia National Park
Presenting some of the highest peaks in Wales, Snowdonia boasts incredible views and a beautifully dark night sky. Here you can enjoy a cinematic experience of what the solar system has to offer - planets, shooting stars, and the Northen Lights on a particularly good night.
Exmoor National Park
There seems to be a running theme here that you're more likely to see the lights if you're at a national park. I suppose this makes sense though, as protected grounds it also protects the sky above. Less buildings and infrastructure naturally leads to less light pollution so the skies will be clearer. Rumour has it you're more likely to see the lights here over winter time when there is less humidity.
National Trust Membership
I will do a blog post about this in the future in more depth, but it's definitely worth having a national trust membership if you want to do some travelling to visit these parks for a bit of light spotting. By becoming a member you help contribute to the upkeep of protected spaces, but also have the opportunity to explore them, at a fraction of the cost of a daily pass.
Family passes start at just £8.25/month. We couldn't be without ours now!
You can have a look at the various options here: www.nationaltrust.org.uk
Let me know if you manage to see them, and share your pictures too, I've become quite the fan since seeing them for myself (and waking Alfie up in the process, to make sure he didn't miss it too!)