Gerbutt Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Just wondered if it's possible to see some sort of northern lights in sheffield? I was out loading my van at 5:45 this morning and in the far distance the sky was glowing and changing brightness for about 5 minutes. I thought it was distant sheet lightening to start with, but it was far softer than that and didn't go from light to dark quickly, it just kinda wobbled? I live in Crookes and was looking out over Hillsborough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djelibeybi Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Just wondered if it's possible to see some sort of northern lights in sheffield? I was out loading my van at 5:45 this morning and in the far distance the sky was glowing and changing brightness for about 5 minutes. I thought it was distant sheet lightening to start with, but it was far softer than that and didn't go from light to dark quickly, it just kinda wobbled? I live in Crookes and was looking out over Hillsborough. From what little I know, it's only possible to see the Aurora Borealis from mainland UK during exceptional conditions, eg: solar storms. I could very well be wrong though. You'd need an Aurora Borealis buff really! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerbutt Posted March 9, 2009 Author Share Posted March 9, 2009 It'll be interesting to see if anyone else saw it, it was very odd. People driving in that direction must have seen it too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djelibeybi Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 It'll be interesting to see if anyone else saw it, it was very odd. People driving in that direction must have seen it too! I'd be interested to know as well! Maybe all those who were up and driving in that direction this morning are already in bed, and may see this thread tomorrow - so don't give up hope! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Angus Prune Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 Apparently under certain atmospheric conditions, the aurora can be seen this far south, but it happens very rarely. I remember one such night about 20 years ago, when you could clearly see it from our back garden at Wickersley where we lived at the time. According to the weather forecast that evening it had been reported as far south as Bristol thanks to a freak magnetic storm. It was a truly bewildering sight, but only me and about three other people I know said they saw it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhimmi Posted March 9, 2009 Share Posted March 9, 2009 http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/ Might be useful... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mort Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 I've seen the northern lights in sheffield, about 8 years ago and it was pretty amazing, like curtains of colour slowly waving across the sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DIVA Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/ Might be useful... Thanks for the link. I've now signed up to the email alerts, so hopefully won't miss the next one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlin_mick Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Me too! Although it seems the last visible activity on that page was back in 2005! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plain Talker Posted March 10, 2009 Share Posted March 10, 2009 Apparently under certain atmospheric conditions, the aurora can be seen this far south, but it happens very rarely. I remember one such night about 20 years ago, when you could clearly see it from our back garden at Wickersley where we lived at the time. According to the weather forecast that evening it had been reported as far south as Bristol thanks to a freak magnetic storm. It was a truly bewildering sight, but only me and about three other people I know said they saw it. I remember the incident where the Northern lights were visible over Sheffield in about 1986/7, it was very rare to be seen this far south, but I STR the news saying that, at that time, they were seen as far south as Devon. The way the sky shimmered that night was awesome, like waves of colour. It was a really beautiful sight. Having never seen the Northern Lights before, I was scared, wondering what the heck it was that I was seeing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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