Why we are seeing the Northern Lights so often and why this is set to continue in 2025

Weather Presenter Ross Hutchinson looks into why the Northern Lights have appeared more frequently and why that is set to continue in 2025

Catching a glimpse of the Northern Lights has long been thought of as something of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

But that seems to have changed as the natural phenomenon, officially known as the aurora borealis, has been spotted more and more.

Last year brought sightings of the Northern Lights from northern Scotland to the south coast of England, with stand-out displays in May and October.

And on the first night of 2025, we were treated to more magnificent sights in the night sky as the lights turned out again in full force.

But why are these dazzling displays seeming to be happening more frequently?

Space weather forecasters say it is because the sun's solar cycle is reaching its peak. The current cycle began in 2019, and lasts for roughly 11 years.

Experts say the cycle is now reaching the point of "solar maximum", with the exact peak expected to be reached at some point in 2025.

Krista Hammond, from the Met Office, said: "The sun is active, it's always releasing energy in the forms of solar flares, electromagnetic energy, and coronal mass ejections which are enormous eruptions of charged plasma.

"If it's directed towards the earth, it interacts with the earth's magnetic field and upper atmosphere, which releases the light that we view as the Northern Lights.

"Currently we're at what's expected to be the solar maximum, so we're seeing a lot more sun spots and that means that we're also seeing an increased frequency in space weather."

ITV Tyne Tees Weather Presenter Ross Hutchinson said that in order to capture the lights with the naked eye, the stars need to align.

"Predicting aurora sightings is complex, there's a lot of elements that need to be in our favour," he explained.

"We need to understand the size of the explosion from the sun, the direction it's pointing in, and is it going to interact with the gases in our atmosphere?

"Then of course, we need to hope it's all going to happen at night, and keep our fingers crossed for those all-important clear skies. There are a lot of factors that need to be in our favour."

Wil Cheung is an astrophotographer who leads dark skies tours in Northumberland.

For him, 2024 was one of the most remarkable years of stargazing in his lifetime, and that was largely in part down to the awesome shows from the Northern Lights.

He believes everyone needs to see them.

"For most people, seeing the Northern Lights is on their bucket list," he said. "It makes people appreciate the universe more, it makes us feel humble and small and looking at the earth's magnetic field at work.

"It's a connection with nature, a beautiful display that we all get to see, I think that's probably why people really want to see it."

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