If you want a decent chance of seeing aurora in the UK, the best method is:
- Use a website such as spaceweather.com and www.swpc.noaa.gov to notify you of incoming CMEs. The SWPC will generally give a predication of the strength of the storm. A G3 is ok, G4 is better. G5 is put down everything and stay outside all night awesome.
- Use the met office cloud cover map to check cloud for your area around the days of the predicted arrival. You may need to make plans to drive to a better area.
- Get a chair, camera, tripod, and a bag full of snacks, and keep them ready by the door.
- Wait for it to get dark.
- Go and sit outside somewhere in an area with low light pollution. Be prepared to sit outside for hours. A collection of good podcasts and/or audiobooks helps.
- Check the sky with the camera, both the northern horizon and above you for aurora. If you are lucky, they may become visible with the naked eye. On Friday, I could see them as wispy cloud most of the time, but for a brief period around 23:15 they became visible in full colour, and were glorious.
