Hi all,
Me and my husband are looking at taking a short trip in February to try and see the Northern Lights. I know this is subject to weather conditions etc but I was wondering if anyone had been away before to see them specifically and were successful and also who is best to book with and where is best to go.
We have looked into Reykjavik, Iceland which looks lovely but upon searcing round there are other good places also.
Any advice would be appreciated
It's very hit and miss with the northern lights and you're open to the mercy of atmospheric conditions. I spent a week in Lappish Finland, well north of the artic circle last December hoping to see them but the weather was too warm and cloudy (we had nearly 18 inches of snow through the week!). When I say too warm, it averaged -9 celsius, but the locals reccon it needs to be at least -20 for them to see it with very clear skies. Anywhere north of Scotland through the winter months you can see them, given the right conditions and Iceland is as good as anywhere. I was told the northern lights appear on average every 3 days through the winter months if the weather is right so the longer you spend in the area, the better really. I might be taking a flight in December up towards Iceland to see the northern lights since we didn't manage to see them in Finland so fingers crossed!
Darren
Anywhere north of Scotland through the winter months you can see them, given the right conditions
And under the right conditions we can even see them here in Scotland! It used to be possible to subscribe to an automatic email message service run by Lancaster University that issued alerts for when you stood a good chance of seeing the Aurora but they had to discontinue it as a result of cuts in their funding. Your best chance of seeing them is when there is a lot of solar flare activity on the Sun and this tends to be cyclical. You could be in luck this year because activity is building from now until early 2012. the best time to see them up here is not the dead of winter but tends to be around the autumn and spring equinoxes simply because we are more likely to have settled weather with the necessary clear night skies at those times.
SM
Click on the link below to register:
http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/cgi-bin/subscribe
SM
I received an email from them yesterday, the first time in a couple of years, but it was a false red alert.
but it was a false red alert
which was apparently
due to man-made disturbance at our Lancaster field site.
The mind boggles at what that 'disturbance might have been!
SM
Post a Reply
Please sign in or register an account to reply to this post.
Similar Topics
-
Best time to see the Northern Lights 2014?
Posted by Babs135 in General Holiday Enquiries, Hints and Tips
-
traffic lights???
Posted by jacqueline1957 in Spain - Costa Blanca Discussion Forum
-
Can you get Marlboro lights in Goa?
Posted by doctorjims in Goa Discussion Forum
-
Wow...on went the lights/Dentist
Posted by alishamoonbeam in Goa Discussion Forum
-
Christmas Lights
Posted by Taggy in Spain - Costa Blanca Discussion Forum