My wife had always longed to see the Northern Lights. I was aware that we would have to travel a long way north, the Lights are often not there, and clouds tend to get in the way. However the Sun's activity is declining so it seemed that this year might be the best prospect for several years to come. A Company, which organises wildlife holidays and with whom we have had several holidays, was offering a holiday in northern Finland specifically to see the Northern Lights. So we decided to go and hope for the best.
Two days before we left there was a display that was visible in northern parts of England so we feared we might have missed it. The holiday also covered the date of the solar eclipse and we all hoped we would see that too and I took eclipse glasses and suitable solar filters hoping to get pictures. Our holiday started at Heathrow airport from where we flew to Helsinki and on to Rovaniemi which is just south of the arctic circle. From there it was an hour's drive north to our base, a small village called Luosto in Finish Lapland at latitude 67° 9' N longitude 26° 55' E.
We were very lucky and saw displays of the Aurora on three of the five nights we had in Luosto. The nights were very different and I have selected a few of the pictures I took on the three nights. Click on the pictures below to see more pictures taken on those nights.
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The aurora were the brightest on the first night. 19th March 2015. |
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On the second night the aurora were fainter but more varied and extensive. 20th March 2015. |
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On the third night we went to the top of a local hill to get a view less interrupted by trees. It was quite a trek to the top on snowshoes, but well worth it. We were rewarded with stunning views. 21st March 2015. |