Can you really see the Northern Lights from Teesdale?

Yes, it is possible. During strong solar storms, the aurora can reach as far south as northern England. Dark locations around Teesdale such as the moors above Bowlees, Grassholme Reservoir or the hills near Middleton-in-Teesdale give you the best chance of seeing a faint glow or colourful beams on the northern horizon.

What is the best time of year to see the Northern Lights in Teesdale?

The main Northern Lights season runs from September to March, when the nights are longer and darker. Clear skies, little or no moonlight and a strong aurora forecast all help. There are no guarantees, but winter and early spring usually give the best conditions.

Why do phone cameras show more colour than our eyes?

Our eyes do not see colour well in the dark, so the aurora often looks pale or grey. Phone and camera sensors can collect light for longer and are more sensitive to colour, so they reveal greens, purples and reds that we cannot easily see. That is why a faint glow in the sky can turn into a bright, colourful photo.

Do you need special equipment to watch the Northern Lights?

No. You do not need a telescope or special equipment; just warm clothes, patience and a dark viewpoint away from street lights. A tripod and phone night mode can help with photos, but simply standing under the sky and watching is often the best part.

What Are the Northern Lights?

A Simple Guide to the Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights, also called the Aurora Borealis, are one of the most incredible things you can see in the night sky.

You might associate them with Iceland, Norway or northern Scotland, but during strong displays they can also be seen from Teesdale.

Sometimes they appear as obvious bands of green, pink or red. On other nights they are much more subtle and may look like a pale glow or strange streaks of light along the northern horizon.

So what actually causes them?

Thankfully, the answer is easier to understand than it sounds.

What Causes the Northern Lights?

The Sun is constantly sending charged particles out into space. This flow is known as the solar wind.

When some of those particles reach Earth, our magnetic field guides them towards the polar regions.

High above us, the particles collide with gases in the atmosphere.

Those collisions release energy as light.

That light is the aurora.

So although the Northern Lights can look almost unreal, what you are seeing is a natural interaction between the Sun, Earth's magnetic field and our atmosphere.

Why Are the Northern Lights Different Colours?

The colour depends mainly on which gases the particles interact with and how high in the atmosphere it happens.

Green is the colour people see most often and is mainly produced by oxygen.

Oxygen can also create red aurora higher in the atmosphere, while nitrogen helps produce blue, violet and purple colours.

During a strong display several colours can appear together, creating the curtains, beams and moving shapes we associate with the Northern Lights.

Why Can We See Them in Teesdale?

The Northern Lights are most commonly seen much farther north, around the Arctic.

During stronger geomagnetic activity, however, aurora can become visible much farther south.

That sometimes brings it within sight of northern England.

Teesdale also has an advantage because much of the surrounding countryside has very dark skies and relatively little light pollution. The wider North Pennines contains 16 recognised Dark Sky Discovery Sites and some of the darkest night skies in England.

That does not mean we can see the Northern Lights every clear night.

You still need enough solar activity, darkness and a break in the clouds for everything to come together.

But when it does, Teesdale can be a wonderful place to watch the sky.

What Do the Northern Lights Actually Look Like?

This is worth knowing before your first aurora hunt because photographs can give you the wrong idea.

A very strong display can be obvious to the naked eye, with visible colour, beams and movement across the sky.

A weaker Teesdale aurora can be much more subtle.

You may notice a pale arc across the northern horizon, faint upright beams or something that initially looks like an unusual patch of cloud.

Take a photograph and suddenly your phone may reveal pink, purple or green that you could barely see yourself.

That is completely normal.

Why Does a Phone See More Colour?

Your eyes are not particularly good at seeing colour in very low light.

A camera can collect light for longer, which allows it to record faint colours and details that your eyes may struggle to detect.

That is why Northern Lights photographs sometimes look much brighter and more colourful than the display appeared at the time.

If you think you can see something unusual in the northern sky, try taking a photograph using your phone's Night Mode.

It can be one of the quickest ways to confirm that an aurora is there.

Our How to Photograph the Northern Lights in Teesdale guide explains how to do it without complicated camera jargon.

When Can You See the Northern Lights?

There is no single night or exact time when the Northern Lights will appear.

Aurora depends on activity from the Sun, so forecasts can change quickly.

Dark autumn and winter nights make viewing easier simply because we have more hours of darkness, while periods around the spring and autumn equinoxes can also be favourable for geomagnetic activity.

Cloud is often the biggest spoiler.

You can have a brilliant aurora forecast, but if Teesdale is covered in cloud you will not see much.

Check an aurora forecast and the ordinary weather forecast before heading out.

Our When and Where to See the Northern Lights in Teesdale guide goes into this in more detail.

Where Should You Look?

Start by looking north.

For weaker displays, the aurora may stay fairly low above the northern horizon.

During much stronger activity it can climb higher into the sky and occasionally spread overhead.

A dark location away from bright streetlights will give you a much better chance of seeing faint detail.

Wherever you go, use somewhere you can safely and legally access after dark. Some reservoirs, attractions and other sites have their own night-time access arrangements, so do not assume that somewhere open during the day is automatically accessible at night.

You Don't Need Any Special Equipment

One of the best things about watching the Northern Lights is that you do not need a telescope.

Start with your eyes.

Give yourself a little time to get used to the darkness and keep watching the northern sky.

A phone with Night Mode is useful for detecting faint colour, while binoculars and telescopes are generally unnecessary for aurora watching because the display can cover a huge area of sky.

If the aurora becomes strong enough, forget the equipment for a while and just watch it.

The Northern Lights in Teesdale

There is something special about seeing the aurora somewhere you already know.

A familiar Teesdale skyline can suddenly have green beams rising behind it, or a quiet dark sky can slowly turn pink.

Some nights will produce spectacular photographs.

Other nights may give you little more than a faint glow on the horizon.

That unpredictability is part of it.

You never quite know what the sky is going to do.

And when Teesdale does get a good display, it is well worth looking up.

Explore Teesdale's Night Sky

Want to know when to head outside? Read our When and Where to See the Northern Lights in Teesdale.

Want to photograph them? Our How to Photograph the Northern Lights guide keeps the camera settings simple.

If you want to explore more than the aurora, start with our Beginner's Guide to Stargazing in Teesdale, our Teesdale Meteor Shower Guide, or return to the main Dark Skies of Teesdale guide.