The Northern Lights, Skye

There were a couple of reasons behind us visiting Skye in March, rather than heading up to to the Isle during our Summer holidays. The first was monetary considerations (it is far cheaper to holiday during winter months). The second was my wife's life-long wish to see the Northern Lights. Whilst most people head to Iceland for the chance of seeing them, the Aurora Borealis is also visible from Skye and the north of Scotland. Unfortunately, they are best discerned during the colder months of the year! Of course, it is still down to luck whether your visit coincides with a show of the lights, or whether the weather permits seeing them even when they are on display. We visited Sky last March in the hope of glimpsing them, only to have the sky overcast on the one night they were active! Thankfully, we were lucky this time. And we only had to take a few steps from our holiday cottage to photograph them!

The Northen Lights, photographed over Loch Cleat, Skye

This glimpse of the Aurora Borealis has fuelled our desire to see a more spectacular display now and we are already making plans to hopefully visit Norway in a few years time. When the conditions are right, the displays there can be truly spectacular!