Top 5 Northern Lights viewing mistakes and how to avoid them

• Choosing the wrong time of year for your Northern Lights hunt

This one’s fundamental. It’s a common misconception that the Northern Lights are only visible in Iceland in winter. In fact, they’re not seasonal at all and can occur at any time. But before you get your hopes up for a summer sighting, if it’s not dark enough you have no chance of seeing them.

In practice, that means at northerly latitudes – in countries such as Iceland – there’s too much daylight in June and July to have the opportunity to see the aurora borealis. In fact, it’s highly unlikely from mid April to late August unless you’re prepared to stay up really late and are extremely fortunate, though at either end of that period you have your best chance compared to a futile attempt at the height of summer.

So does that mean winter’s the only option if you’re desperate to see the Northern Lights? Actually, no. The shoulder seasons – that’s spring and autumn – are an enticing prospect. In places like the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland, the hours of daylight have already shrunk back to leave unsociably early sunrises and late sunsets as a hazy memory of summer.

As well, there’s a statistically greater chance of the Northern Lights making an appearance during the spring and autumn equinoxes; if they do show up, they’re often intense. Combine the two and who knows, you might not need to brave the winter weather after all to be successful in your quest to witness the aurora.

• Underestimating the importance of light – or the lack of it

As well as checking sunset times, you should also take a close look at the lunar calendar. A full moon is not your friend when it comes to chasing the Northern Lights. It’s not impossible to see the aurora in the moonlight if the aurora is intense enough, but it does make things a lot trickier as the additional light will wash out those vivid colours.

In a similar vein, city light pollution is another hindrance. Street lights cast their glow upwards as well as down, though moving even a few metres out of their glare can make a considerable difference if you’re caught unawares and the Northern Lights makes an unexpected appearance.

Likewise, think about how to avoid the headlights of passing traffic, step away from illuminated signage, or duck down a dark alley if that’s the best you can achieve. It’s well worth scoping out some potential sights in the daytime, particularly if you are planning a DIY aurora hunt. Look for evidence of any source of light as well as other practical considerations such as where to park the car and then make your decision.

• Failing to check the aurora forecasts

In order to see the Northern Lights, a number of prerequisites need to be met. Because of this, it’s important to do plenty of research and plan carefully to give yourself the very best chance of success. Though catching sight of the aurora is an inexact science, there are a few forecasts you can take a look at to pin down when and where might be the place to position yourself.

The first of these is the Kp index. Broadly speaking, this gives you an idea of the strength of geomagnetic activity. The scale goes from 0 to 9, with 9 being the strongest. If the forecast is in the upper half of this spectrum, you have a good chance that the aurora will be pretty intense if you manage to see it. It also means you might see the Northern Lights much further south than average. At the lower end of the scale, your chances are slimmer, yet not non-existent – it’s always worth a shot.

Next up is the regular weather forecast. Aurora activity takes place in the upper atmosphere, so if your view of it is obscured then even if it’s all kicking off you won’t know about it. What you’re interested in, therefore, is cloud cover. If conditions are completely overcast and the sky’s full of thick cloud, check the weather radar map and find out if driving somewhere else might change the picture. Thinner cloud is less of a problem as even a small break could mean the heavens reveal their secrets, however fleetingly.

Finally you need to work out the position of the Northern Lights, by determining the location of something often referred to as the aurora oval. This is the ring around either of the poles where you’ll have the greatest probability of seeing this celestial show. The aurora oval is dynamic; by studying a map of where it is, you can figure out whether you are underneath it – even at its fringes you have a chance of seeing the Northern Lights.

• Not waiting long enough for the Northern Lights to show up

With something as fleeting and fickle as the aurora, patience is vital. You could get lucky and watch those ethereal green ribbons dance across the sky as you walk back to your city hotel after dinner – it does happen. But unfortunately, it’s not always like that. You could face a wait that’s measured in hours rather than minutes – and even then, the aurora might grace you with its presence for a few brief seconds, or not at all.

Prepare for a long wait. One way of dealing with this is to choose accommodation that offers a Northern Lights wake up call for guests. In practice what that means is that the hotel receptionist or concierge will phone your room to advise you that the aurora has been spotted. You’ll need to rush outside to catch it before it disappears again and even then you might not make it in time.

If the thought of sleeping in your clothes doesn’t thrill you, then another tactic is to combine a Northern Lights hunt with another activity so that you’ll have something to show for your evening even if the aurora is a bust. In Reykjanes, you could for instance take a dip in the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa or drive out to the Bridge between Continents where you can check out the evidence that the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates are pulling apart.

• Ruling out an organised aurora tour

Lastly, don’t be too hasty to rule out an organised tour. These excursions can be a little costly, but look at it a different way – if you can afford it, such a tour is a small price to pay for an extraordinary experience that you’ll treasure for the rest of your life. If the Northern Lights show up, it will be money well spent.

So why spend money on an aurora tour when you’re gambling that the Northern Lights might not even materialise? Firstly, tour companies have plenty of expertise: they know how to interpret all kinds of aurora-related data and they keep abreast of the most up-to-date forecasts – even after the tour is underway. As locals, they also know where the correctly oriented and darkest spots are, so that when the display does kick off, you’re in the best possible locale.

As transport is included in the tour, you won’t have the stress of driving in unfamiliar surroundings when it’s dark – or navigating your own way home at the end of the night when the excitement’s starting to wear off and you’re beginning to flag. If it’s getting late and you’re tired, it’s someone else’s job to take care of the journey back, leaving you free to chat about your adventure, pore over the photos you’ve taken or even just have a restorative nap.