Im coming to scotland on my hols next year , looking to stay around the edinburgh area, mrs scraprider wants to see the northern lights, how much further up will i have to go or can they be seen from were i will be at, cheers an all.

Rarely seen from Edinburgh.

You do know what causes them and that they are completely unpredictable?

You don’t need to go that far north to see them and best to be away from light pollution.

Sorry to disapoint but your chances are small. I’ve lived here all my life and never seen them. Shetland would be a better bet. Good luck though.

I’ve only seen the Northern Lights once in Scotland and that was from Skye. I’ve been up north a lot over the years and still only seen them that once, so it’s not common.

Saw them from Durham once.
Come to Durham, It’s very nice & probly cheaper than Edinburgh. 🙂

Cheers lads , ive seen them when i was in canada but the wife keeps blatting on and on about seeing them ,

I’ve seen them more often than that and I have seen them from the field behind my house (just outside Edinburgh). You’re more likely to see them in winter with clear skies and longer nights – but that’s when you are less likely to be outside 🙂

Lost count of the times I’ve seen them but always in Northumberland, an advantage of working nights I guess.

:-)As said above, just a case of right place, right time, but here’s a link to Clatteringshaw Loch visitor centre, Dark Skies section http://www.gallowayforestpark.com/dark-skies-park-c31.html
So worst case scenario, you get to ride some of the 7 stanes trails 🙂 .http://www.7stanesmountainbiking.com/Home

How much further north from Edinburgh to see the northern lights? A couple of thousand miles should do it.

Back end of Fife is good, and St Andrews is nice enough for a drive up from Edinburgh if that’s where you’re based. My wife’s from the East Neuk (Kingsbarns) and it’s far enough away from anywhere that a 10 minute walk into the fields is dark enough to see them. Seen them a good few times from there while out walking the dogs.

They aren’t a reliable phenomenon in the UK. You would have to be lucky to get them on a planned holiday imo.

Try going to Finland instead.

Its not necessarily where you in terms of north and south so much as where you are in relation to the horizon if you are hoping to see them

You need a dark sky but unless you are very far north the lights (f they are there at all) are very low on the horizon to the north of you. So you need it to be dark where you are , but also have a low horizon to the north of you and also very little light-producing civilisation in that direction to. I lived in the highlands during the last busy bit of solar activity, in a cottage on its own in the middle of nowhere, but the land just kicked up a tiny bit to the north so I couldn’t see them from home. A friend nearby could see them most weeks but she lived on a third floor looking out north over the sea. In three years I saw them twice, once over the Cromarty Firth (bright, white and practically static) and once from hills above moray (faint a looking a bit like a theatre curtain in the footlights). Nothing colourful or animated or more than a couple of degrees above the horizon

Scotland is ace. But travelling here with a plan of seeing the lights is a daft idea frankly, I’ve seen them a few times while up north but always by chance, and never a really good show like people expect.

Only seen them once and lived in Aberdeen and Edinburgh most of my life (also live near Durham now). I’d be willing to bet that 90% (picked out of the air) of Scots have never seen them. Don’t remember speaking to anyone who has.

My one sighting was at the top of a big hill in Aberdeen. Very clear early morning Winter sky, about 5a.m.

And it wasn’t anything like the spectacular photos and videos I’ve seen – just a shimmering and slight undulation – didn’t realise what it had been until I mentioned it to my folks over breakfast. Still beautiful though.

Oh, and also spent a lot of time in the NW of Scotland, and my folks live on Skye – so far as I know they’ve never seen them, but it’s rare to get a clear sky on the west coast 😉

I live in Galloway (dark skies area) and i’ve only seen them a handful of times when out late at night in the Galloway Hills nightriding, and by out in the hills i mean on top of them, usually bivying wi a hipflask or two so perhaps malt whisy helps 😉 , you generally need a very clear frosty cloudless night and if there is solar activity or sun flares in the preceding days then all the better. Don’t expect the sort of light show you see online as i’m afraid you’ll be disappointed but i have seen shimmering greens into yellow across the entire northern sky, Back in january this year i was aware of extended solar activity as i’m signed up to an aurora watch online group so i headed out into the hills and settled down in my bivvy bag and waited…..and waited….and waited, eventually a purple hue began to grow in the sky and all of a sudden it exploded with a vivid green fringe that appeared to dance vertically like a curtain being pulled across a window, i watched this for at least 30 mins and it really was one of the most amazing sights i have ever witnessed wi my own eyes.

If i never see it again in my lifetime i’ll be happy going to my grave with that one experience but i’d love to see the full show in finland or sweden, preferably sitting in a warm bubbling hot tub whilst drinking schnapps.

Seen them several times in Orkney… I did have to go there about 15 times though. And it was often around four in the morning.

Its not necessarily where you in terms of north and south so much as where you are in relation to the horizon if you are hoping to see them

Well, it depends on where they are. If you are right underneath them then they’ll be overhead. See this map:

In Scotland you’ll be seeing them a long way off in the far north, as opposed to say northern Norway or large swathes of Canada where you could be right underneath.

cheers all , im not going just in the hope of seeing them , as i live in devon i thought as we were on holiday that far up it would be nice if we could to maybe see them.

I used to live just south of Aberdeen, in the country and saw them 3 or 4 times. Nothing spectacular, just some colour in the sky, a bit like a coloured searchlight. Saw them once from Dundee – fekin awesome. We went out to the country and the whole sky was lit up from horizon to horizon, reds, blues, greens, yellows, like psychedelic clouds. never seen anything like it.
Anyway, the reason for this thread resurrection was if you want to improve your chances of seeing them, sign up for Aurorawatch alerts and if there’s a red one, get as far north and as far from light pollution as possible. Alerts refer to that night.
Good luck.

IIRC they appeared in spring this year and I live near Stirling, missed them myself but some others saw them locally. Picture above is from Sheriffmuir.

Saw them from Durham once.

That was just Framwellgate Moor alight

http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/

i thought as we were on holiday that far up

You’re staying near Edinburgh, right?

You’re about half way then…