The Northern Lights

It has been explained with science in plenty of detail, but the Aurora Borealis still leaves its first-time watchers with a sense that they have witnessed an ancient magic. Curtains of rainbow shades against the black sky, spirals of twisting, unearthly green, bursts of pink and orange rays, golden arcs shooting across the horizon; endless colours and formations swamp the sky and almost block out the stars in eerie silence, and make fireworks seem like tiny, sparkly toys by comparison. There is a chance of their appearance at any time of year but for the best chance of a good display, come in Spring and read up on solar weather. High solar flair activity triggers the strongest auroras, and these are more common during the earth's equinoxes, when the interplanetary magnetic fields are at their strongest and geomagnetic storms are more frequent. Of course, you may prefer to imagine them as reflections from the armour of the Valkyries charging through the sky, as they are said to have done in the Old Norse legends.