The lights appear quite suddenly, their intensity varying – but on any given day, scientists publish a forecast based on solar winds in the past three days to predict aurora strength. A flow of charged particles from the sun, called the solar wind, slams into the earth’s magnetic field and cause atoms in the upper atmosphere to glow. The northern lights are caused by solar activity. While the winter brings the cold, it also increases your chances of seeing the nighttime illumination. The forces creating the spectacular streaks of colors are active year-round we just don’t see them during bright summer nights. Dark nights, however long, are the fundamentals. Statistically speaking, this claim has some merit – yet the correlation is hardly enough to dictate your travel plans.
NORTHERN LIGHTS IN ICELAND PROFESSIONAL
Sailing in Scoresby Sound, Greenland, some years ago, I saw them as early as late August.Īurora hunters – a professional title in the high North – claim the best time to see vivid northern lights is around the solar equinoxes, when day and night are of equal length. In Tromsø, Norway, I saw the auroras at 5pm on a December afternoon last year. It also has the added benefit of being popular for plenty of outdoor adventures like hikes, so you will have plenty to fill your time with when you’re not chasing auroras.īut there’s no need to limit yourself – more far-flung Arctic destinations have the benefit of constant darkness, or very brief hours of sunlight. Reykjavík, the northernmost capital, is a major hub for international flights and a good place to seek out the phenomenon. This is good news for travelers who don’t want to trek all the way to the North Pole – the oval latitudes 60° to 75° North range from Bergen, Norway (Europe’s capital of rain) to Salla, Lapland (the self-proclaimed coldest town of Finland).Īmong Nordic destinations ( Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Iceland), the middle-of-the-aurora-belt Iceland is the easiest place to get to for most travelers. They appear, instead, on top of the globe like a doughnut, known as the Aurora Oval.
Where you go should depend on your time and interests – but Iceland is a safe betĬontrary to the name, the northern lights do not brighten with every northern latitude. Note that viewing the Northern Lights is affected by a variety of factors, such as cloud cover, moonlight, and urban light pollution.Iceland is an undeniably good spot for aurora watching © Natapong Supalertsophon / Getty Images Step 1: Choose where to go You can also visit Aurora Reykjavík – an information and exhibition centre dedicated to the Northern Lights. If you plan on experiencing them for yourself, there are many tour operators located in the city, with specialised trips offering a range of different experiences, from boat tours to coach trips. They form what is known as ‘auroral belts’ around the geomagnetic poles and occur high above the Earth's surface, at altitudes between 100-250km, where the atmosphere is extremely thin. The Northern Lights are generated in the upper atmosphere as it gets bombarded by electronically charged particles from the sun. This particular phenomenon, also known as the Aurora Borealis, can be experienced in Iceland during the winter time, especially on those clear, crisp nights, where they appear in a variety of colours and intensity, either twirling gently in shades of milky green, or occasionally blazing in a wild and multi-coloured dance across the night sky. Iceland is renowned for its otherworldly illuminations, the Northern Lights being one remarkable example.
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