Northern Lights Forecast for Glasgow

Rarely, and only during geomagnetic storms. A display strong enough to see from streets in the city and from the M80 comes once or twice a decade. More often, if anything shows at all, it is a faint glow on the northern horizon that only a camera picks up, and you need to be on the Campsies or by Loch Lomond to find it.

The Crow Road car park on the Campsie Fells above Lennoxtown, about 10 miles north of the city, is the usual spot and fills up fast on an alert night, with cars in every lay-by. The Tak Me Doon Road in the same hills is the other hill road. Mugdock Country Park next to Milngavie is also about 10 miles north, and Balmaha on the east shore of Loch Lomond is roughly 45 minutes away.

The east shore is, on a strong night. From Balmaha the loch runs north for about 20 miles with the Highland hills on either side, so there is water rather than city in your view. The south end of the loch is about 14 miles north-west of Glasgow city centre, inside Loch Lomond and The Trossachs National Park.

For stars, yes. It was the UK's first International Dark Sky Park, with gold-tier status since 2009, and it is a couple of hours south of the city. For the aurora it has a drawback: Glasgow and the Central Belt lie to its north, so the glow you are trying to escape sits on the horizon you need to watch. The Campsies or Loch Lomond put the city behind you instead.

In Glasgow, you usually need at least Kp 4 to have a reasonable chance of seeing the northern lights. Lower Kp can still bring a faint aurora display low on the northern horizon, but it is less common.

This is based on magnetic latitude, and Kp index is a global geomagnetic index, so treat it as a rule of thumb, not a location-specific guarantee.

Tonight, the NOAA Kp index forecast is 1.2 to 2.7. That is below the usual Kp index threshold for Glasgow, so seeing the aurora is unlikely.