How to photograph the northern lights from the UK this winter

You can photograph the northern lights from the UK, and the long nights between now and February give you the most hours of darkness to try. The honest picture is that displays are faint more often than spectacular, and they are much easier to see on a camera screen than with the eye. If you know which alerts to watch, get away from street lighting, face north and let the camera expose for ten seconds or more, you give yourself a real chance.

Why Britain only sees the edge of it

The Met Office's aurora guide explains that the UK sits south of the main auroral belt, which runs over Norway, Iceland and Greenland. During moderate to strong geomagnetic storms the belt slides south, and on clear nights the aurora can then be seen from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland. Only severe storms push it directly overhead, and those are rare.

That geography explains a lot about British aurora photos. Most of the time the glow sits low on the northern horizon, so the shot is a landscape with colour in the bottom third of the sky, not a curtain of light straight above you. A view with an open northern horizon matters more than altitude.

The alerts worth signing up to

Two free services cover most of what you need. The Met Office publishes a space weather forecast, and its aurora page suggests watching the Kp index, which runs from 0 to 9; higher numbers mean the aurora is likely to reach further south, though cloud can still ruin the night. AuroraWatch UK, run by scientists at Lancaster University, issues alerts when its measurements suggest the aurora might be visible from the UK, and you can follow it on several social channels.

Use the forecast to decide whether to keep an eye on the sky, and the live alerts to decide whether to go out. Then check the cloud forecast for your area. A strong storm under thick cloud gives you nothing, while a modest one on a crisp night in the Highlands can produce a lovely picture.

Choosing a spot before the night

Pick two or three locations within easy reach while it is still daylight. You want a view north with as little artificial light as possible in that direction, solid ground for a tripod, and something interesting in the foreground: a loch, a ruined wall, a lone tree, a lighthouse. Coastal spots in the north and east of Scotland are popular for good reason, but a field outside any northern town can work if the sky is dark enough.

Visit in daylight if you can. Finding a stile, a path edge or a safe parking place in the dark is much harder, and a quick walk round tells you where the lights of the nearest village will spill into the frame.

Camera settings to start with

A camera with manual control on a tripod is the most reliable tool. Nikon's aurora photography guide suggests starting around ISO 800 to 1600, a wide aperture of f/1.8 to f/2.8, and exposures of roughly 10 to 20 seconds, with white balance on daylight or auto. Those numbers are a sensible first frame. Take it, look at the screen, and adjust.

• If the sky looks muddy and grey, lengthen the exposure or raise the ISO.
• If the aurora looks like a smooth smear and the stars have trails, shorten the exposure; fast-moving displays look better at a few seconds.
• If your lens only opens to f/3.5 or f/4, as many kit zooms do, you will need a higher ISO to match. That is fine for sharing online.

Focus is where most night shots fail. Switch to manual focus, magnify the live view on the brightest star or a distant streetlight, and turn the ring until it is a tight point. Then leave it alone and avoid knocking it. Our explainer on aperture, shutter speed and ISO covers why these three settings trade off against each other if the numbers above feel abstract.

Use the self-timer of two seconds, or a remote release, so pressing the button does not shake the picture. Turn off image stabilisation when the camera is on a tripod if your manual recommends it.

Using a phone instead

Recent phones can do a surprisingly good job because their night modes combine many frames. Prop the phone against something solid or use a small tripod, turn off the flash, and let the night mode run for its longest setting. Some phones let you choose the exposure length manually; a few seconds is a good starting point. Tap to focus on a distant light if the phone struggles, and shoot several frames because some will be sharper than others.

Do not trust the screen at full brightness in the dark. It makes images look brighter than they are. Turn it down and check the results properly when you are home. Our list of smartphone photo tips has more on keeping a phone steady.

Comfort and safety on a winter hillside

Aurora nights are usually clear nights, and clear winter nights are cold. Dress for standing still rather than walking: a hat, insulated gloves thin enough to work buttons, and an extra layer you can put on after you stop. Batteries drain quickly in the cold, so keep a spare in an inside pocket.

Tell someone where you are going, park legally and considerately, and keep to paths on unfamiliar ground. A head torch with a red setting saves your night vision and is kinder to other photographers.

What to expect from the pictures

The camera sees colour that your eye cannot. Green is the most common hue in photographs, with pink or red above it during stronger displays. On a camera screen the glow may look obvious when you could barely see it standing there, and that is normal. In editing, resist the urge to push saturation so far that the sky looks unreal; a gentle lift in contrast and a slight cool white balance usually look truer to the night.

Most importantly, accept that many attempts end with photographs of clouds. The people with the best British aurora shots tend to be the ones who went out on a dozen nights and were ready on the right one.