Aurora Watch (UK)

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is a breathtaking natural phenomenon that occasionally graces the night skies over Britain. Once you witness its mesmerizing dance of colors, it's an unforgettable experience. AuroraWatch UK provides an invaluable service by allowing you to keep tabs on geomagnetic activity, alerting you when there is a possibility of seeing the aurora from the UK.

By subscribing to AuroraWatch UK, you'll receive timely alerts about increases in geomagnetic activity. These alerts are triggered whenever the AuroraWatch status level changes, giving you a heads-up on the relative likelihood of witnessing the aurora from your location in the UK.

You can also check the current alert status, review the recent history of the last 24 hours, and access a 30-minute forecast model provided by the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). For any issues, please feel free to reach out via email at [email protected].

Please note that AuroraWatch UK is not a forecasting app. It's essential to be aware of your phone settings, such as Battery Saver, which might limit the phone's ability to receive push notifications, thus narrowing or even closing the aurora alert window. If you're not receiving alerts, ensure that notifications for AuroraWatch UK are enabled in your phone's Settings/Notifications/App settings.

The app does not alert historically, so if your phone is off or unable to connect to the internet when the status changes and then reverts before the next data update, you won't receive an alert. There is also a necessary delay before alerts are sent, as recommended by Lancaster University, to allow the data to 'settle down'.

Alerts are primarily based on data from Lancaster University's magnetometer, though they also utilize data from other locations, such as Shetland. While the chances of seeing the aurora are higher in Shetland, the alerts tend to be more 'pessimistic' for those in England, which is appropriate for most users but less so for those further north.

The AuroraWatch UK app for Android is developed and maintained by Smallbouldering Projects. It's important to note that this is not an 'official' app. The data for the alerts is provided by Lancaster University, UK, using information from the SAMNET and/or AuroraWatchNet magnetometer networks. You can learn more about this here: http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/introduction.

What's New in the Latest Version 1.97

Last updated on Oct 20, 2024

• Added some abbreviations to About.
• Added Bristol and Portsmouth to locations.
• Added new optional Alert Notification "Triggered by value" so that, for example, when there has been a red alert and the status value (nT) goes even higher, you can receive another notification.

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