Aurora visible from the UK tonight

[mark smyth]

http://www.her.ie/life/tonights-the-night-the-northern-lights-will-be-visible-from-ireland-tonight/

[Peter Maguire]

Oh no it wasn't! At least not here in England.

I eventually decided (wisely) not to travel too far in view of the possibility of cloud cover, so went to the St Mary's island car park in Whitley Bay (20 mins drive) at 2330. The car park was full and you could hardly get moved on the seafront without tripping over a tripod. 
Gave up at 0015 when it finally clouded over completely and discovered this morning after a good night's sleep that the aurora hadn't really been visble much further south than the arctic regions, like this photo here:
http://spaceweathergallery.com/indiv_upload.php?upload_id=92727&PHPSESSID=ftrii8iek3ksctoii8efgqpbq3

Apparently an 85% chance tonight so I might try again 

[mark smyth]

I was out until 1am and saw green over the Antrim Plateau while heading to the north coast. Once there the sky had a slight tint of green. The bright moon didn't help last night. Had a look at photos on a guys camera and they looked great after 50 second exposure

[Peter Maguire]

That's good to know Mark. If the cloud disappears tonight I might try somewhere 'properly' dark.
The moonlight isn't actually a problem with long exposures - gives some light to the foreground. The trick is to get away to a really dark site, and where I was last night has street lights to the north (Blyth, Northumberland), although I have seen good aurora images taken from there.

[Richard Green]

Anyone watching "Stargazing Live" on BBC2 for the last few nights will have seen some splendid views in live reports beamed direct from a plane flying above Norway.

However down on the ground just north of Glasgow, there has been nothing visible for the last few nights -although I shall be out again tonight just to make sure!

[RichardW]

Went to Iceland in October with my daughter, seeing the lights was always going to be very lucky and we were, staying in Akureyri as our second stop we had an amazing light show all night, magical experience! What surprised me was how the lights move and change so quickly, and disappear then reappear.

Strange place and some of the driving was a bit scary thanks to freezing fog covering mountain roads in sheets of ice. I'll also never complain about a restaurant bill in the UK again   

[RichardW]

Anyone see them last night?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-26378027

[Matt T]

Saw them here in the Western Isles. Friends in Sutherland, Strathpeffer, Edinburgh and the Borders saw them too. An excellent display, best of the winter (and for many winters) with red and green across half the sky and shifting and changing all the time.

No pics this time I'm afraid, was just enjoying it instead of worrying about camera settings. Friends have photos similar to those on the BBC weblink. Here too, from North Uist: http://www.western-isles-wildlife.com/Latest%20Bird%20and%20general%20wildlife%20sightings%20in%20the%20western%20isles,%20outer%20hebrides.htm