The sight is highly dependent upon solar activity and the when or how frequently sunspots occur.
Best time and place to see the northern lights in scotland.
Northern lights because shetland lies closer to the north pole than any other part of the british isles it s the best place to see the northern lights.
You could celebrate christmas in a loch side lodge toast hogmanay the new year in january in edinburgh or take advantage of less rain in february.
The autumn and winter seasons provide the greatest chances of experiencing the auroral displays due to the cold clear nights and increased periods of darkness which stack the odds in favour of seeing the lights.
The midnight sun makes it impossible to see the northern lights.
Edinburgh and the coast of fife.
Over a typical winter a keen observer checking the skies on every clear night could certainly expect to see the aurora several times.
Autumn and winter seasons with their long periods of darkness and the frequency of clear nights are probably the best time of the year to experience the auroral displays.
Although the general rule of auroral thumb favours scotland s northern reaches there are those occasions when edinburgh and the surrounding areas that stretch along the fife coast are transformed by the northern light s luminous display.
The crowning jewel among scotland s litany of world class national parks the cairngorms are transformative even before you ve settled in to do some northern lights spotting.
Of course it s a cracking spot for that too.
The northern lights don t appear on set dates each year.
We saw them in september in 2015 2017 and 2019.
Locals said that was quite early as normally they wouldn t see them until october.
In scotland that generally means the autumn and winter months as that when it s going to be darkest.
The aurora are only visible in dark skies so the best time of year to see the northern lights in scotland is the autumn and winter months.
Best time of year to see the northern lights in scotland it doesn t matter where you go to see the northern lights the best time for viewing is when you can guarantee clear skies and a whole lot of darkness.
Find hotels and airbnbs near northern lights map perthshire rannoch moor fife coast angus cairngorms lochinver applecross rubha hunish harris moray coast aberdeenshire caithness orkney shetland.