Ali Mclean

I caught up with our Marketing Assistant Laura who had the most amazing first Northern Lights experience in Iceland. Here is what she had to say:

'"After suffering serious wanderlust from seeing so many breathtaking photos of Iceland I knew I had to head out there and explore it for myself. So, in December 2016 I flew over for a week of Arctic adventure. I experienced waterfalls, geysers, volcanoes, boiling mud pools, stunning scenery - you name it - but one night stands out for me - the night I ticked two experiences off my travel bucket list.

How often have you returned to work in the New Year regretfully thinking,

“Why on earth didn’t I do something useful over the holiday period?”

That period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve, Betwixmas if you like, must be the most neglected of the year. It’s a dead zone during which you know you should be doing something useful but simply can’t be bothered.

Here at The Aurora Zone we’ve seen something of a change in recent weeks. Naturally, as holiday providers and Northern Lights enthusiasts, we spend a lot of time travelling to the likes of Finland, Sweden and Norway in search of dark skies illuminated by dancing celestial light.

(Taken 1st March 2017 in the Lyngen Alps by Francisco Damm)

If I had a pound for every time I have been asked this question I would be rich beyond the dreams of avarice. If I had an exact answer, I would be rich beyond the dreams of Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet combined.

The problem with the Aurora is that it is a natural phenomenon and regardless of whether it is September, December or March, its appearance can rarely be predicted much more than a few hours in advance.

Have you noticed that there has been far less mentioned in the media recently about Auroral displays over the UK and yet pictures of the Northern Lights taken further north continue to flood onto social media sites?

This is exactly what we said would happen in our blog back in November and given that we are dealing with something as unpredictable as Mother Nature, we are prepared to give ourselves a hearty pat on the back.

The light pollution created by more than 8 million people would render even the most vibrant of Auroral displays above the UK’s capital pretty much redundant but, for six weeks only, the Northern Lights will be visible in SW3.

Have you noticed how popular Finland has become recently?

Every time I open a magazine or the travel section of a national newspaper it seems that everybody is tipping Finland as THE hot destination for 2017.

If you have read our more recent blogs you’ll know that the sun is currently in the declining stage of Solar Cycle 24. As a result, it is Coronal Holes rather than Coronal Mass Ejections, that are more likely to cause Auroral displays over the course of the next few years.

The Sun is currently in the declining stage of Solar Cycle 24 and this has prompted some speculation that Auroral displays will become less commonplace. Fortunately, this is not the case because the Aurora stems from two sources: Coronal Mass Ejections and Coronal Holes.

During the declining stage of the Solar Cycle it is the less violent but more stable Coronal Holes that are the more likely to cause the Northern Lights to dance in our night skies and the beauty of these holes on the SUN’s surface is that they can come round time and again.

Ladies and gentlemen, tonight’s contest is to decide the celestial heavyweight championship of the year.

In the blue corner; The Northern Lights!!

In the red corner; The biggest moon for 70 years!!!!