The Met Office has given stargazers details on when they might have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights in the UK. The dazzling display has lit up the skies of the UK on several occasions this year.
But as 2024 reaches an end, one last showing is forecast – depending on where you live. There’s a chance people will be able to see the lights in parts of northern England as well as in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The Met Office says a so-called coronal mass ejection – an eruption from the sun – on December 29 is why we might get to see the colourful illuminations tonight. Yet be aware – there will be cloud cover in many areas elsewhere that could make it difficult to spot the lights.
If the skies are kind, the Met Office says the best time to see the Northern Lights is between 6pm and 9pm. The Met Office says: “A coronal mass ejection (CME) which left the Sun early on 29 December, is expected to arrive on New Year’s Eve. But, although the Northern Lights may be in place, visibility could hamper any sightings.”
They add: “These will likely be transient though with cloud and rain around for many, especially in Northern and Western Scotland.”
Some stargazers say it’s easier to spot the lights through a camera lens than with the naked eye. Tonight’s activity will be fascinating.
But be aware, the scale of what is happening is not as intense as other recent occurrences. The Met Office is forecasting a fairly minor event.
In the technical language, this would be disruption to the Earth’s magnetosphere. This is the region around our planet dominated by the planet’s magnetic field, according to the NASA website.
On its space weather section online, the Met Office says: “A Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is forecast to arrive at Earth on Day 1 (31 Dec), with a risk of G1-G2/Minor-Moderate geomagnetic storms and a slight chance of a G3/Strong storm, which could produce visible aurora across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England dependant on cloud cover. A Second CME is then expected to arrive on Day 2 (01 Jan) with G1/G2 Minor-Moderate storms continuing. Geomagnetic activity then is expected to gradually wane into Day 3 (02 Jan) back to Quiet to Unsettled conditions.”
Why are we seeing Northern Lights more often in UK nowadays?
The lights have become a fairly regular display this year but have until recently been seen very rarely in the UK by most people.
They can be seen when charged particles hit gases in the Earth’s atmosphere around the magnetic poles. For our purposes, most of the activity in the northern hemisphere happens in a band known as the aurora oval. This covers latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees.
This expands to cover a larger area when activity is strong. Sky News reported earlier this year that we are in a period where people in the UK are more likely to see the Northern Lights.
Their website stated: “We are currently near the peak of the 11-year solar cycle, with high solar activity giving an increased chance of seeing the Northern Lights. The current peak is expected to last until mid-2025, according to the Royal Astronomical Society.”