No way would you see them in June and July - the nights just aren't dark enough at that time of year. A friend and I have recently booked a fjords cruise for early July 2014 precisely because we want to go when it won't ever get dark. Even up here on the east coast of Scotland the sky never really gets completely dark in June and July - there's always this glimmer low in the sky to the north. To stand a good chance of seeing them you need to go when the nights are at their longest, in other words around now and probably up until February.

The odds are good for this winter because while it's quiet at the moment, the sun is going through a more active phase of its cycle overall and depending on where you live you might even stand a chance of seeing them in the UK. You can register here for a free alert service, via either email or a Twitter account, to warn you when the chances of seeing the Aurora are high because of increased electromagnetic activity:

http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/alerts

SM

I'd love to see the Northern Lights more so since I watched the show where Joanna Lumley saw them. It was the amount of stars visible too, stunning.

They are a truly amazing sight, Glynis, we had an exceptional sighting up here on the east coast of Scotland a few years back. They started early evening and though the sky clouded over later on it was still fascinating because they were strong enough to colour the clouds from above them. At 10.30pm my neighbours and I were still outside marvelling at how the clouds were fading from green to pink and back against etc.

SM

Awww how lucky you are SM & how jealous I am

First time we went to the USA (about 20 years ago) we wangled a visit to the cockpit of the airplane (those days are now gone) because I worked in the aviation industry at the time. It was night time and we were flying a great circle route over Greenland. My son and I sat at the back of the flight deck and watched a beautiful light display ahead of the plane. A great curtain of green lights suspended in the sky. It must have been Easter time come to think of it.

Ooooo bet you felt you were in the middle of it...... ( my green eyed monster is out again )