Best places to see the Aurora in the UK

The best places to see the aurora in the UK are Scotland, Northern England, Northern Wales and Northern Ireland. The further North you are, the more likely you are to see them.

As of October 2021, solar activity is picking up, and so are the chances of seeing the Aurora Borealis, also known as the Northern Lights, from more southern locations.

Aurora is the result of charged particles emitted by the Sun encountering gases such as oxygen and nitrogen in Earth’s atmosphere, causing them to glow.

Usually, this spectacle is visible from northern latitudes such as Iceland and Norway. However, when the Sun is particularly active, solar storms can result in Aurora being visible much further South.

Aurora in Iceland (we’re working on photographing it from the UK!)

In addition, the chances of seeing Aurora is reasonably predictable. Several space-based telescopes constantly observe the Sun looking for coronal holes, vast gaps in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, and eruptions called Coronal Mass Ejections, or CME’s.

It takes approximately two days for the energy from these sources, in the form of particles travelling at speed, to cross the ~93 million miles to Earth.

By checking websites such as spaceweather.com, it’s possible to plan a trip to a dark sky site, aurora viewpoint or anywhere away from light pollution with a clear northern horizon.

Clear skies!

Map of aurora viewpoints

Below is a map of the best aurora viewpoints. We are constantly adding to this map, for more suggestions see our location map.

List of aurora viewpoints

Alemoor Reservoir

Roberton, Hawick, Roxburghshire, TD9

Aurora Viewpoint, Go Stargazing Site
More info
Backwater Reservoir

Blairgowrie, Dykends, Perthshire, PH11 8PR

Aurora Viewpoint, Go Stargazing Site
More info
Blackhall Rocks Local Nature Reserve

Blackhall Colliery, Hartlepool, Cleveland, TS27 4AT

Aurora Viewpoint
More info
Blakey Ridge Car Park

Blakey Bank, Church Houses, North Yorkshire, YO62 7LQ

Aurora Viewpoint, Go Stargazing Site
More info
Bow Fiddle Rock

Portknockie, Aberdeen, Banffshire, AB56 4NL

Aurora Viewpoint
More info

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