Northern Lights in Scotland – Twice in One Year

Feb 21, 2025

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I managed to catch the Northern Lights twice in 2024. Both times were local near Edinburgh where I live, and it was just absolutely stunning.

May 2024: Pentland Hills

I was camping solo up in the Pentlands. Proper tent setup, quiet spot, facing north with a clear view over the city of Edinburgh. It’s my favourite spot, which I won’t give away easy!

I had a fire going, obviously. My tent was outside the wood area, which is where I’m usually at. This was a calm night though, not windy at all.

By late evening, as soon as it got dark, the sky was shifting… Around midnight things really kicked off. I spent hours looking straight up, neck ruined by 2am and beyond that point I was getting tired. Still didn’t want to look away, it was the first time I’d seen the aroura so clearly in person.

I sometimes quickly solar activity before heading out for a camp. I knew there might be a storm, but I never expected anything like the night I had here. I would have been camping regardless this night!

📸 You should know, a camera’s perspective of the aroura is not actually the same as what you see in person. I saw the sky glow red, as if it was burning in one area. I saw what I describe as shooting stars of clouds coming from the centre of the sky. It was crazy, even if the photos don’t actually represent what I saw. It was special.

October 2024: Craiglockhart Hill

This second time, I saw people posting photos online in the evening during eating or cooking dinner. It was already dark, and I just needed to check it out. To get up to the top of Craiglockhart Hill is only a 15 min walk from my house, which overlooks all of Edinburgh.

I boosted out and took some photos. I needed to after seeing what I saw last time.