Last week Hawklad was talking with my sister. The intrepid exploring sis was on the phone from somewhere near the Arctic Circle. On a cruise ship….

She was trying to describe the wonders of seeing The Northern Lights. Hawklad so wanted to see them one day. His Dad as well. Occasionally Aurora Borealis can wander south just far enough to reach Yorkshire. Unfortunately then the wonderful Yorkshire weather kicks in and any light show is hidden behind the cloud and rain. I’m not saying the weather is unusually grim here but after all these many decades, this muppet was still waiting on his first glimpse of this wonder.

So we decided to add ‘way up north’ to the bucket list.

One day….

Then just a couple of days later, look what happened to our part of the world. A magnetic storm brought the light show to Yorkshire (and even further south) AND unbelievably the clouds parted.

Our first glimpse from the house back door. The photos are a bit blurred as my poor old iPhone isn’t so hot in low light and I never did buy a tripod for it.

The green sent the two of us scampering to the car and off we went on our version of storm chasing. A few moments later a more open northern view revealed the glorious light show.

Gradually just a hint of red. We took a gamble, jumped in the car again and headed to The Moors.

And wow was it worth it.

We got back home at just after 1am, what an adventure. You just never know what the day will bring.

Hawklad loved it.

Maybe next time we can see them from within the Arctic Circle.

82 thoughts on “Those Northern Lights”

  1. This brought tears to my eyes, Gary. I am so happy you and Hawklad experienced this magical moment. I love that stormchaser analogy you use as it made me vividly imagine your excitement and delight in my mind.

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    1. AB, I’m with you on this. It brought tears to my eyes too. I am sooo soooo soooo pleased for both you, Gary, and for Hawkland to have seen this – and yes the stormchaser too. Thank you for sharing that evening of joy x

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  6. OMG, what a magical experience for you and Hawklad. I’m jealous. I’ve been north of the Arctic Circle and I’ve lived in Yorkshire, and I’ve never seen a northern light show like that! Thanks for sharing these pics, Gary.

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  9. Great shots…even with an iPhone. We had a pretty powerful CME hit us…then, we had the five planetary alignment, yesterday. We don’t get Aurora sights where we are and we’ve had storms, so I couldn’t see the planets line up. Too much cloud cover.

    You got lucky.

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  15. I can just imagine how you both felt at such an experience. I briefly saw the southern hemisphere equivalent during a round trip of the South Island in 1971, but cloud cover spoilt it apart from brief moments. Nevertheless, it was spectacular.

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  16. Lucky you! So cool! Bucket list for sure. They’ve been sighted around here recently (same geomagnetic storm I think), but I didn’t see them. That said, I was fortunate to see them years ago on ship just above the Arctic Circle.

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  17. This is absolutely amazing that you could see them in Yorkshire. I heard even in north Germany they were spotted. We were so lucky that we saw them last August in Iceland and now look at you… very cool and thanks for sharing, Gary!

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      1. The counry is magical. With “magical” you describe it with one word. Nature has first priority and you can feel (and see) the natural spirits watching over the country in alignment with the people … magical! I understand your dad so well.

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  26. Wow! Those are great shots. We see Northern Lights here fairly regularly and it NEVER gets old. That must have been the same night Canada was treated to the same light show pretty much from coast to coast. I’ve seen some fantastic shots of them on social media. I am so glad you both got the chance to enjoy them.

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  31. Oh Gary, beautiful and sooo very happy that you and your son could experience this amazing sight! ❤Glad I didn’t miss this post! Trying to catch up, after being away.

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