Stargazers in Scotland last night had up to a ‘90 per cent chance of seeing the Northern Lights splash the sky with colour. The spectacular light show was also visible for Scots on Tuesday night, as the cosmic phenomenon shone through the night.
While the Aurora Borealis is usually a treat reserved for locations like Iceland, Norway, and Finland, the Met Office issued an alert on Tuesday indicating that it could grace parts of northern and western Scotland this week.
But while Aurora is more frequently spotted way up in Shetland and Orkney, where is best to see the Northern Lights down in Glasgow?
Here are five of the best dark sky stargazing spots in and around Glasgow, so you can ensure you’ll catch the twinkling lights next time.
1. Clyde Muirshiel Regional Park
Clyde Muirshiel is Scotland’s largest regional park. It covers 108 square miles and you can reach the park’s main hub beside Castle Semple loch in just 30 minutes from Glasgow.
If you don’t travel as far, the sky gets pretty dark after Howwood, just 23 minutes away.
2. Glennifer Braes Country Park
Glennifer Braes offers stunning views closer to central Glasgow. One Tripadvisor reviewer wrote: “The Braes are especially beautiful at night, if you like star gazing. You get a great view of Paisley, Glasgow and beyond.”
The scenic Robertson car park, also known as the Car Park in the Sky, is a particularly good place to watch the Northern Lights.
3. Ballageich Hill
Ballageich Hill, 25 minutes from Glasgow, is in a “low light” zone, making it ideal for stargazing.
Ballageich sits on the northern side of Eaglesham Moor right next to Whitelee wind farm, which is also frequently recommended as a dark sky location by casual astronomers.
4. Harelaw Dam
Harelaw Dam is also an area of low light pollution, according to lightpollutionmap.info, and it is just 29 minutes from Glasgow city centre.
The still waters of the reservoir the dam has created would beautifully reflect the lights, and there is a car park there opposite Harelaw Trout Fishery.
5. Langlands Moss Nature Reserve
Langlands Moss is 30 minutes from Glasgow, and has similarly low light pollution levels to Harelaw Dam and Ballageich Hill.
The reserve is a raised peat bog with paths and a boardwalk that you need to keep to to preserve the site’s ecosystem, and it can be found just south of Calderglen Country Park.