
Ali – ‘My first Aurora viewing was at Nellim in Finnish Lapland. I’ll never forget the owner running inside and shouting “Ali, if you’ve never seen the Northern Lights before then you might want to come outside now!”.
I did as he suggested and was immediately mesmerised by dancing green light as it swirled and shimmied directly overhead.
As I recall, I was only wearing a t-shirt in -15°C but the cold was an irrelevance until somebody far wiser than I forced me back inside to get a coat. When I re-emerged, Lady Aurora had gone.
That night I learned two things: Lady Aurora is stunningly beautiful but also a temperamental and fickle mistress.’
Allan- ‘I was lucky enough to have two major Northern Lights on two successive nights a couple of weeks ago in Northern Finland!
We’d just taken a wonderful Aurora Reindeer Safari around the frozen lake at Torassieppi under a perfectly clear star-lit sky and were huddled around the campfire when an arc of white-green light began to glimmer in the distance. As we walked into the centre of the lake, the Aurora danced and fanned over our heads, gently moving in waves like harp-strings. I can only liken the experience to actually standing under a rainbow; like nothing I’d seen before. A truly spiritual experience!’
Amy Hope - ‘My first experience of seeing the Northern Lights was with a group of families travelling in February. We had been sledging in Luosto on the floodlit slopes and suddenly saw the Hotel Aurora emptying in droves with people pulling their coats on.
At first, I thought it was a fire alarm before I realised everyone was gazing skywards and heading towards the Aurora Trail in the village. We sat there for hours just watching the magical skies!’
Barry – ‘Seeing the Northern Lights is something you never forget. It was 27th January 2003 just North of Kittila airport and still remains the best display ever.
Multi-coloured and dancing like a symphony across the skies. Spiritual and moving. No further words required.’
Jenni - ‘The first (and, so far, only) time that I saw the Northern Lights was during my first ever visit to the Arctic Circle.
It was a bitter and extremely windy evening, and I was feeling slightly fed up. It had been a long and busy day and the sky was cloudy; “our chances are unlikely tonight I’m afraid,” was what we were told as we waited patiently in our bus that drove us up to North Cape. After a few hours of nothing, we mooched around the souvenir shop waiting to leave and go to bed, when someone dashed inside and told us “come outside now!”
The sight will remain clearly in my memory forever. Not only did I witness bright, clear green swirls dancing across the sky, I then saw a shimmering red whirl through the green in such a clear and mesmerising manner that it brought me to tears. I truly felt like the universe was in my favour that night, and every natural element that contributes to the Aurora had fallen together like a jigsaw puzzle and provided me with a phenomenal picture.”
Laura - ‘Never in my wildest dreams had I ever expected to see the Northern Lights on my first trip to Iceland.
One evening I had decided to tick the world famous Blue Lagoon off my bucket list, and as I relaxed in its warming waters I heard a sudden shriek, screaming to look up to the stars. I turned and through the broken clouds a pale green Aurora appeared, gently twisting and turning through the dark Arctic sky. I was in awe.’
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Photography by Antti Pietikainen, Miika Hämäläinen, Anthony Oberlin, Innovation Norway - Bjørn Jørgensen - Visitnorway.com, Visit Iceland