Aurora lights up the Northumberland sky
Having witnessed the Northern Lights over Northumberland countless times, it’s something I never tire of. As pillars of light shoot upwards and dance across the night sky, I’m always struck by how lucky I am to experience nature at its very best.
When planning my photography shoots, I’m always looking for strong foreground subjects that elevate an image beyond a simple night sky. One location I’d had in mind for a while was Thockrington, where the rural Northumberland landscape is home to St Aidan’s Church, an 11th century building and one of the oldest in England. It felt like the perfect setting for an aurora shot.
Church of St Aidan's Thockrington
As with all aurora displays, a lot of factors need to align. First, you need clear skies with little to no cloud cover. Ideally, there should be a new moon or no moon at all and you need to be in a dark sky area, far from light pollution. Most importantly, though, you need a strong geomagnetic storm. Without diving too deeply into the science, when a large coronal mass ejection (CME) produces an Earth-bound X-class flare, it’s usually a good sign that conditions are favourable.
When everything appears to be lining up, I run through a few final checks. I look at the Glendale app for recent reports, check Northumberland webcams to confirm clear skies, browse the Aurora Hunters UK Facebook group, monitor the Space Weather Live website, and keep an eye on social media. Together, these give me a good sense of whether it’s worth heading out.
Silhouette of trees at Belsay Hall with the northern light’s above
As luck would have it, on the night of 20th March 2026, everything pointed towards a promising display. I set off early, around 8pm. On the way to the church, I stopped at a small body of water framed by a line of trees, perfect for a silhouetted composition. To my surprise, three other photographers were already there, and we spent some time chatting. There was a faint auroral glow in the sky, but nothing particularly dramatic.
Sat on top of a spur of the Great Whin Sill lies St Aidan's Church, Throckington. A Northern Lights display shines overhead.
Once I’d captured what I wanted, I continued on to my main location at the church a few miles up the road. For the next three hours, I wandered around, searching for compositions and keeping myself occupied, all the while hoping for a stronger display.
Then, just after midnight, the sky came alive.
In a rush of excitement, I found myself darting around, capturing images from every angle. The aurora was in full flow, and I was determined to document it in all its glory. But as quickly as it had appeared, it began to fade, retreating back to a faint glow on the horizon.
Eventually, I made my way back to the car, camera in hand and a big smile on my face.
