‘Once-in-a-decade’ Northern Lights display could hit UK in early 2025 – four tricks for a dazzling view
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THE 'once-in-a-decade' auroras are set to continue into 2025 after a blockbuster year for Northern Lights sightings. The Earth saw an explosion in the frequency of Northern Lights this year, as the sun went into solar maximum. The solar maximum is the peak of an 11-year cycle, whereby solar activity grows more intense.
![[It's best to make your way to a more rural area - if you're not based there already]](https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/880732-picture-dated-october-11-940007445_20ebc2.jpg?strip=all&w=960)
There were a lot more sunspots in 2024 than scientists had predicted. And there's every indication that this will continue into 2025. "The sun has been very active recently, and we expect it to continue through 2025," Elizabeth J. McGrath, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at Colby College, in the US told The Sun.
"Normally we only see the aurora at locations close to Earth’s magnetic north and south poles because charged particles from the sun get trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field and funneled to the poles. "With stronger solar storms during solar maximum, there are more charged particles from the sun, and when these particles interact with Earth’s magnetic field, they can be distributed farther from Earth’s north and south magnetic poles, reaching more southerly latitudes here on Earth.
"That’s why we’ve been noticing the aurora in locations that don’t typically experience aurora (including London!).". The peak of this decade's solar maximum, known as Solar Cycle 25, is expected in July 2025. But the shorter summer nights do not lend themselves to seeing the Northern Lights.
