Aurora!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

We are in the midst of a major geomagnetic storm caused by a large Corona Mass Ejection, which hit the earth around 4-00am this morning.

There should be a good light show from the Northern Lights, visiable, barring city light pollution , from quite low latitudes over the next few days!!

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

Dead loss this far south, I went outside after dark, got my "night vision" and cound just make out the aurora, must have been spectacular farther north.

[loppylugs 8,429]

Couldn't see it here. Wish I was back in Alberta.

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

There's a lady photographer in Alaska who say's this is the most amazing Aurora she has ever seen of photographed.

I've seen a few this far south, one was so vivid, I actually watched it from inside the house with the lights on!! That shows how bright that one was.

[colly0410 1,181]

Hmm, don't think I'll see much of it here because of streetlight glare, although the glare is not as yellow/orange as it used to be now some of them are LED streetlights. We've still got the very orange low pressure sodium streetlights outside my house .

[firbeck 860]

I've seen it twice down here in rural Essex in all it's glory but last night went all foggy, I doubt whether it will be seen this far south anyway. Last year there were spectacular views off the Norfolk coast, where I was at Winterton we saw nothing thanks to thick sea fret unfortunately.

[Bilbraborn 1,594]

I never even saw it when I lived in Scotland.

[BilboroughShirley 1,120]

When we were coming back from holiday in Shetland we saw the Aurora from the ferry. I was up on deck for a late night walk and the lights were just amazing! A very special experience. I was not impressed with Northlink ferries, not as good as P and O Scottish Ferries who ran the service before. Shetland is wonderful.

[OLDACE 196]

It was cloudy on the last two nights here in Shetland. The aurora is visible quite often up here, although I usually miss it.

Shirley your opinion of Northlink Ferries compared to P & O Scottish Ferries is shared by everyone up here, Northlink is run by Serco, so it is to be expected that corners are cut. Prior to winning the contract, Serco's only experience of boats was operating a ferry across the Thames.

I'm pleased you enjoyed your time in Shetland, it is quite different to the rest of the UK.

[Compo 10,328]

Good showing in Caithness but so much cloud that only a few managed to see it.

[banjo48 928]

Seen a Southern hemisphere one a few years ago, an amazing sight. The dancing lights appeared eery green down here.

[MargieH 7,613]

Do the lights dance in the opposite direction to the northern lights?

[Ayupmeducks 1,730]

They follow the lines of the earths magnetic field.

[firbeck 860]

The first time I saw it was February, 1982? on a Sunday night at about 10:00pm. It was a freezing night with a heavy frost and we lived in a very rural location at a place called High Garrett, just outside Braintree. The rather grand 18th century Gothic front door faced directly North looking out over fields, I was putting our milk bottles out on the step and looked up to see this amazing waving vertical curtain of bright green light stretching high up into the sky with pulsating streaks coming out the top almost vertically overhead. At that moment my ex shouted that Bill Giles on the weather forecast was suggesting we might see the Aurora as far south as Essex, the first time he ever got anything right.

The next time I saw it was in Finchingfield, but that was in the summer, June 1988. This time the back of the cottage faced North looking over a water meadow with empty countryside stretching for about 10 miles until the next village and Finchingfield has very few street lights anyway so light pollution was virtually nil. I'd played in a cricket match that day, my video of the event follows on from that, it's not very good as most of the colours were dark red with a green glow over the top, the best part is film of my son, who was nearly three then, leaning out the landing window looking out in complete amazement even though I'd just woken the poor kid up so he could see it. Considering all his world wide travels since, that's the only time he's ever seen it.