Northern Lights Tonight in Belfast, Northern Ireland

Belfast sits at a Kp threshold of 5.3, which makes it a place for good storms rather than routine evenings. Northern Ireland has the advantage of facing the open north: the Atlantic and the Scottish coast beyond it leave little in the way, so when a strong storm hits, the glow can show above the horizon even from the edge of the city.

The city itself is a bowl. Belfast Lough opens to the northeast, the Antrim plateau rises behind it, and the lights spread up the slopes on three sides. For a view north, Cave Hill is the obvious climb: the basalt ridge looks over the city and the lough, and the dark ground of the Antrim hills lies beyond. On the lough shore, Crawfordsburn and Helen's Bay on the County Down side face across to the dark Antrim coast, which suits a camera on a storm night.

Real darkness lies west and north. The Sperrins around Davagh Forest give the darkest skies in Northern Ireland, and the north coast around Downhill adds a sea horizon with nothing blocking the north. Cloud decides most nights here: Atlantic weather moves through quickly, so it is worth checking the sky an hour before you leave and again when you arrive.