Anyone know anything about the northern lights?

[Bakersdozens]

I've read they might be visible again this week. But I don't know when, Don't want to miss them, but also can't sit and look at the sky all night every night either!

They are usually visible just after sunset. When I saw them a few months back, it was about an hour after sunset. Around 10.45 pm to 11.30pm was the peak.

Look North!

If you have clear skies then yes it's possible they may be visible ..
If your area has no clouds head to an area with no street lights . As far away from any as possible IE miles!
Look north!

Download the Aurora app. Someone suggested it to me when I was in Finland. It will give you a notification when there is a possibility the Northern Lights may be visible in your location.

https://northernlights.online

Download AuroraWatch app and set notifications for when it’s likely visible in your area (depends how far north or south you are). Good luck

There is an app (Aurora something), worth downloading it as it shows likelihood your area and you can set an alarm

I saw them in May in the Lake District. Strangely, they seemed to be visible in every direction but north

I've found that app, thank you x

Def the aurora app and allow notifications... It will tell you when they are visible. Also make sure your phone is ready (majority of time they are not visible to the naked eye.... I see grey, the camera see this....) night mode, iso I usually use 3200 and a 3-5sec shutter speed.

They seemed to be in every direction in May where we are, I’d always thought the advice was to look towards the northern horizon but these were even overhead.

I’ve just looked at the times on my photos from then and we first saw them at 10.22 from our house before going out into the countryside for an hour or so. I kept watching after we got home and the last photo is timed at 3.12am.

@Bakersdozens As well as the app, look to join an Aurorawatch Facebook group.
The Scotland one is brilliant and people often ask (and get answered!) really basic questions so it’s friendly and inclusive.
The page gives really good heads ups on aurora activity and people share photos.
Good luck!

I'm on a Facebook group and use the Aurora watch app. After 2 years of not really seeing anything, when the alert came in May I was ready with my camera/iPhone and to drop what I was doing (i.e. going to bed) and go outside. But i was lucky to be in a dark clear location for once that night. Patience, basically!

I saw them from near Ripon once. Had to have them pointed out to me. A bit unimpressive, although I guess the further north you go the more you see?

They're hard to spot in summer because we have so few hours of darkness so I wouldn't get your hopes too high OP and you need clear skies. There will be more chances in the autumn and winter months.

For the best view, you need to be away from light pollution. And they can appear anywhere, not just looking north. As has been said, use an app - Lancaster University has a good one.

And they can appear anywhere, not just looking north.

Agreed.

You can think of the visible aurora as a wall or curtain of light, running East-west, suspended in the upper atmosphere.

Most times that curtain, if there is a display, sits to the north of the Uk so usually you do need to look north to see the lights.

However If you get a very energetic display, as happened in the Spring, the wall/curtain can shift south, and then you can end up being able to look upwards into the base of the display, or it may even end up south of you.

You might like to look at Spaceweather.com, which has information on the Sun's state. For instance, it has just reported three CMEs joining together and aiming at Earth, effects to appear 30th/31st July.
A CME is a coronal mass ejection, in which an eruption in the corona - solar atmosphere projects a vast amount of solar stuff into space, sometimes towards us.
This not only causes Aurora by interaction with our atmosphere, but other effects as well. Look up Carrington Event.
On August 4th 1972, there was a famous one which alerted NASA to the risks facing astronauts - none were up at the time.
I was out sunbathing in a Kent garden and within 5 minutes I came up in a rash. Took a bit of time to identify the cause, next day in the Telegraph, but I'm not exposing myself this week!
It's flipping cloudy!

They looked like pale grey spotlights when I saw them-colours were only visible through my phone camera.