Northern Lights Forecast for Lerwick

Northern Lights in Lerwick

Lerwick is Shetland’s main town. At 60°N it sits on almost the same latitude as Helsinki, and it is closer to Bergen than to Edinburgh. In Shetland the aurora is called the mirrie dancers, from the old word mirr, meaning to shimmer.

Being this far north helps, but Lerwick is still well south of where the aurora is a regular sight, such as Finnish Lapland. Most displays here come with stronger activity and sit low over the northern horizon. To the naked eye a moderate display can look like a pale, greyish glow, while a phone or camera shows the green.

Out of town to Eshaness and St Ninian’s Isle

Strong displays are sometimes visible from Lerwick itself, but the street lights wash out anything weaker. Shetland is small, so a 15-minute drive out of town is usually enough to reach proper darkness. Look for a spot with a clear, low view to the north and north-west.

With a car and a longer evening, the cliffs at Eshaness in Northmavine, about an hour’s drive from Lerwick, and St Ninian’s Isle near Bigton, around 18 miles away on the west side of the South Mainland, are dark coastal spots that often turn up in Shetland aurora photos. Locals share alerts, sightings and road conditions in the Shetland Aurora Hunter group on Facebook.

The simmer dim and Up Helly Aa

From May to early August it never gets properly dark in Shetland (locals call the light summer nights the simmer dim), so the aurora season runs roughly from late August to April. Around the winter solstice Lerwick gets under six hours of daylight, which means long evenings for watching. The catch is the weather: Shetland is cloudy and windy in winter, so plan for several nights rather than one.

Late January has an extra reason to visit. Up Helly Aa, Lerwick’s fire festival, is held on the last Tuesday of the month. Squads of costumed guizers carry torches through the town and burn a replica Viking galley, and the parties in local halls carry on into the next morning. Smaller fire festivals take place elsewhere in Shetland between January and March. During the short days, the Shetland Museum and Archives on the waterfront and Clickimin Broch, an Iron Age site on the edge of town, are easy to fit in.

Overnight from Aberdeen, or fly to Sumburgh

NorthLink’s overnight ferry from Aberdeen arrives in Lerwick in the morning. Some sailings call at Kirkwall on the way, which makes it easy to combine Shetland and Orkney in one trip. Flights land at Sumburgh Airport, about 25 miles south of Lerwick by road, with Loganair connections from Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness.