Where and when can you see Northern lights this year?

Those who want to see the auroras are in luck today as the Northern Lights are set to be visible across parts of the UK and the US tonight.

The aurora borealis, or northern lights, are expected to be more active than they have in decades on the evening of May 10 and 11, according to an announcement by the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This marks the first severe geomagnetic storm watch from NOAA since 2005.

So will you catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights tonight? Scientists expect the auroras to be visible tonight, Friday 10 May and into the early hours of tomorrow Saturday 11 May, across areas of the UK and US.

Enhanced geomagnetic activity is expected to persist throughout the weekend as Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) – giant bursts of gas and magnetism erupting from the Sun’s surface, travelling millions of kilometres into space – reach Earth.

That said, tonight will likely be the peak of the activity, so it’s your best chance to spot the Northern Lights.

The different colours of auroras are formed as particles from the Sun interact with different gases in our atmosphere. – Photo credit: Getty

The best time for viewing is typically during the darkest hours of the night, from around 11:00 – 12:00 pm. But as Pollacco said, it’s difficult to predict exactly when they’ll crop up, so it could be a late night for any ardent aurora hunters.

According to astrophysicist Dr Paul Strøm, “The best way to see an aurora is to sign up to an alerts service which may provide the most current activity status.” For those in the UK, he recommends AuroraWatch UK. In the US, the SWPC has an account on X (formally Twitter) is a useful tool.

Where can you see the auroras?

Otherwise known as the aurora borealis, the northern lights will be visible across much of the northern half of the US this weekend. As things stand, the states with the best chances of spotting them are in northern Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and most of North Dakota.

If we’re really lucky, the spectacle could stretch down as far as Alabama and northern California. This forecast is subject to change, so keep an eye on the SWPC’s aurora viewline prediction tool.

In the UK, the Met Office is forecasting auroras across the northern half of the country, “with a chance that aurora may become visible to all parts of the UK.”

Predicting exactly where auroras will be visible is always a tricky task, but with geomagnetic activity at such high levels, many people will certainly be in for a treat tonight.