Northern lights in north Scotland?

[Girlofgold]

How realistic is it to see the northern lights from the likes of Nairn or the Cairngorms?

Not

There would have to be a particularly strong solar storm.

Nairn, probably not. Cairngorms, possible. blog.visitcairngorms.com/top-tips-for-spotting-the-northern-lights-in-the-cairngorms/

I have seen them quite a few times along the Moray coast but it's once in a blue moon. It's not a very regular occurrence. More a case of being in the right place st the right time.
I don't think you could plan a couple of weeks holiday and reslistically expect to see them.

I live in an area of Northern Alberta, Canada, which has tourist trade for Northern Lights watching. We can often see them every night. Sometimes we don’t see them for weeks on end. Sometimes it’s just a faint glimpse. Occasionally it’s an epic light show for hours on end. Often, it’s up there but hidden by cloud.

You'll have to be very lucky, but it's possible.

Sign up for alerts at aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/, that'll at least give you a prompt to go looking. You'll need to be away from civilisation a bit, they're pretty dim and easily drowned out by town lights.

Thanks everyone!