Northern Lights Forecast for Edinburgh

Northern Lights in Edinburgh

Edinburgh lies on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, with the Pentland Hills to the south-west. The north edge of the city is a coastline looking north over open water, so you can put the lights of half a million people behind you without leaving town. The aurora is rare here: on an active night a pale arc or a red tint can show low over the Forth from a dark shore, and a display you will clearly see with your eyes needs a G1 minor storm or stronger. The same storms reach Glasgow, an hour west, which has no shore of its own to the north.

Along the Forth from Cramond to Portobello

Silverknowes promenade runs along the south shore of the Forth from Granton to Cramond, about 3 miles from the centre, facing north over the water. Cramond, at the west end, has less light behind it. Portobello beach is 3 miles east of the centre, and in big storms the Edinburgh Evening News and the Scotsman have run reader photos from Portobello and Leith.

Arthur’s Seat above the streetlights

Arthur’s Seat (251 m) and Blackford Hill (164 m) lift you above the streetlights, but the city glow is still north of you, so they suit the strongest storms. On those nights the lights have been photographed over Arthur’s Seat and Salisbury Crags, and Calton Hill (103 m), in the middle of town, has filled with cars although vehicles are not normally allowed up.

From the hills the sky can look grey to the eye while a phone in night mode shows pink and green; see the guide to photographing the aurora with an iPhone.

Gullane and Yellowcraig in East Lothian

About 20 miles east near North Berwick, Gullane and Yellowcraig have the Forth to the north and far less light behind. Yellowcraig has a car park about 300 yards from the beach, and North Berwick has a train from Edinburgh. The Pentlands are the wrong way: from up there you look north straight into the city.