Northern Lights

Viewing the Northern Lights in Scotland

The Northern Lights are an incredible light display that occurs naturally when charged particles from the sun, carried by the solar wind, collide with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. These interactions create vivid patterns of different colour and light in the night sky.

The correct scientific name for the northern lights is ‘Aurora Borealis’, coined in the early 17th century by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. He combined Aurora, the Roman goddess of dawn, with Boreas, the Greek name for the north wind.

The Northern Lights can be viewed from Celtic Lodges given the right conditions and on a nice clear evening which we sadly can not guarantee. If we could then we’d be millionaires Rodney!

In Scotland, the autumn and winter months are considered the best time to see the Northern Lights, in locations with low light pollution. Being in a rural area of Caithness with no streetlights, Celtic Lodges offers an ideal location to try your luck!

The Sun goes through an 11 year cycle, with the Solar Maximum last occurring in 2014, so heightened geomagnetic activity and (in theory) better opportunities for Aurora spotting should occur between 2024 and 2026.

Nowadays, smartphones are good at capturing the Northern Lights so even if you can’t see them with the naked eye, it’s worth downloading the Aurora Watch app for notifications.

Patience is key when Aurora spotting! Even if there’s a clear sky, the lights might still not be visible, but you’ll see plenty of stars!

Read our full guide: Viewing the Northern Lights