Aurora Update — 21:00 BST, 5 June 2026

Hi everyone, after a lot of will it won't it arrive at the right time last night…
…sadly it didn't arrive at the right time for us in the UK ☹.

The solar wind of the anticipated CMEs from AR 4455 unfortunately arrived during the morning and midday during daytime for us here in the UK. With impacts at around 06:15 BST this morning and just after midday.

This means that the aurora from the majority of the best solar wind from these CMEs hasn't been visible to us here in the UK. Those Down Under have been treated to some fairly nice displays with activity reaching G2 storm levels, however maybe not quite as nice as we were hoping due to the main impact being northwards in polarity.

It just goes to show that everything really needs to fall just right for us to get a good display, especially in the middle of June!

Anyhow… onto tonight's prospects.

After a large increase in IMF strength upon CME arrival, things have quietened down a lot with regards to IMF strength and density, the solar wind speed is still looking good however and if we can get a nice prolonged period of negative polarity wind, maybe just maybe the current wind can last long enough so we can catch the dregs and see a little aurora tonight. Fingers crossed 🤞

CURRENT STATS

EPAM readings show the proton levels have dropped down to normal levels, indicating the space weather events have arrived and we shouldn't expect any further CME wind.

Solar wind speed is looking quite good with the wind speed fluctuating around 675 – 725 km/s.

After a fairly big hit of density during daytime, solar wind density is back to average levels of around 1 p/ccm.

Again after a fairly big hit in the IMF during daytime, the strength of the IMF (Bt) has dropped significantly to ever so slightly increased levels of around 6nT.

After a prolonged period of northwards polarity in the early morning the polarity of the IMF (Bz) has seen some large negative drops to levels of -16nT around midday. Since then the polarity has been fluctuating North and South but has predominantly been North. Hopefully the Bz can stay South for a prolonged period and allow the aurora to build up.

All in all, it would have been nice to see the arrival of the CMEs and the drop in polarity at the right time last night, but fingers crossed if the polarity can hold South and things stay at the current strength we may have a chance of seeing some aurora here in the UK (weather permitting).

MANAGING EXPECTATIONS

As last night proved, things sometimes end up different to the forecasts.

The particles from the solar wind can fizzle out, they can miss us all together, they can arrive during our hours of daylight, and they can arrive with the wrong polarity and not interact with our magnetic field. There is also the Earth weather and the Moon to consider as well (which isn't looking great tonight), plus at this time of year any auroral activity must also be strong enough to cut through the endless twilight.

EARTH WEATHER

Looking at current weather forecasts it doesn't look great for pretty much all of the UK. It seems that most of the UK will be under cloud, with the best chances of gaps in the cloud being on the East coast.

However, as we all know, the Earth weather forecasts are never 100 percent accurate and things can and do change, so it's worth heading out and checking your local skies in person.

LUNAR CONDITIONS

The Moon only just reached its full phase on the 31st of May and so the Moon is currently in its waning gibbous phase. This means that when the Moon is in the sky it will be quite bright and causing a lot of natural light pollution, making it harder to catch aurora.

Fortunately at this moment in time, the Moon isn't rising very high in the sky and rises at around 1am. This leaves a short window of time with moonless skies during the darker stage of twilight.

The other upside is that the moon will rise slightly later and be slightly less illuminated each night from now.

ENDLESS TWILIGHT

At this moment in time due to the Earth's tilt and the Northern Hemisphere being tilted towards the Sun, we are also experiencing endless summer twilight, and so the skies never reach true darkness which makes it harder to catch an Aurora display.

Counter-intuitively to normal circumstances where being further North is best for aurora chasing, due to the effects of the perpetual twilight being stronger at more Northerly latitudes, those who are further South actually have a better chance of catching aurora due to the Northern horizon being darker for those further South.

All of this being said, if the Aurora is strong enough it can outshine the Moon and twilight, just like the incredible display that we experienced in June last year.

CLOSING WORDS

Although we have missed out on the best chance of seeing a nice aurora display, maybe just maybe we might see a little tonight. Let's all keep our fingers crossed! 🤞

Of course, we will be keeping an eye on the skies and satellite data and will keep you all updated.

Please follow our Facebook for up-to-date aurora alerts, or join our WhatsApp group for live notifications. We always make sure to keep an eye on things throughout the night and alert you if things are looking promising to give you all the best chance possible of seeing and catching photographs of the aurora yourselves. 😊💖

Wishing you good luck and clear skies. ✨️