How to catch Northern Lights in Scotland before sightings suffer 'sharp fall'
Scotland is known for its wide range of astronomical delights, and for a lot of the year, the Northern Lights is the highlight. The spectacular display of purples, pinks, and greens has been visible our side of the border for centuries.
Scots from the Highlands to Helensburgh have been able to spot nature's lightshow over the years, but activity is now intensifying, it seems, with four red alerts already issued this week alone by AuroraWatch UK.
These alerts were triggered when the geomagnetic activity exceeded 200nT. The alerts were issued between 9am and 11am, and then again from 4pm to 6pm on Monday, June 2, with updates provided every hour.
AuroraWatch UK utilises geomagnetic activity measurements from the SAMNET and AuroraWatchNet magnetometers to automatically detect when it is likely that the aurora can be seen from the UK.
The monitoring system uses a colour-coded alert system with four levels.
According to the monitoring group, a Red Alert means "it is likely that aurora will be visible by eye and camera from anywhere in the UK."
The thrilling development comes with a warning, though. Although lights have been dancing in the sky over the past 24 hours, Scots now only have a small window to view them before sightings "fall sharply" in the coming days.
According to the Met Office, Earth is under the ongoing influence of a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) that causes the Northern Lights, that arrived during the morning of Sunday, June 1.
And while aurora sightings are still likely for the far north of the UK at first, "activity is expected to gradually reduce through the coming three day period," the weather agency states.
Looking ahead to the next four days, it is possible that geomagnetic sub storms cause another burst of Aurora Borealis happenings particularly on Wednesday, June 4 - meaning we have just one more day to look up in hope.
Wondering how the phenomenon occurs in the first place? The Northern Lights are the result of interactions between the solar wind, a stream of charged particles emitted by the Sun, and the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. These particles travel at speeds of around one million miles per hour.
When the magnetic polarity of the solar wind is opposite to that of the Earth's magnetic field, the two fields can merge, allowing solar particles to funnel into the atmosphere near the magnetic poles.
While the aurora is most commonly seen in high-latitude regions like Scandinavia or Canada, it can occasionally be observed in the UK, particularly in Scotland, Northern England, North Wales, and Northern Ireland.
During periods of intense solar activity, sightings have been reported as far as southern England.
Clear, dark skies are essential to view the Northern Lights, so rural locations away from light pollution offer the best chance of seeing the display.
North-facing coastlines and elevated areas provide ideal vantage points.
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