AuroraWatch UK takes geomagnetic activity measurements from the SAMNET magnetometers to automatically detect when it is likely that aurora can be seen from the UK. Our colour-coded system has four levels.
| Colour | Description | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Green | No significant activity | Aurora is unlikey to be seen from anywhere in the UK |
| Yellow | Minor geomagnetic activity | Aurora is unlikely to be visible from the UK except perhaps the extreme north of Scotland |
| Amber | Amber alert: possible aurora | Aurora is likely to be visible from Scotland, northern England and Northern Ireland |
| Red | Red alert: aurora likely | It is likely that aurora will be visible from everywhere in the UK |
We offer a number of ways to keep you informed of major events and to alert you to opportunities for seeing aurora from the UK:
Following us on Twitter is the easiest way to stay informed and you don't need to give us any personal details. Twitter accounts are free and you even can get Twitter to send our tweets (messages) to your mobile phone as SMS messages, for free! You can also limit the times of day when tweets should go to your mobile phone.
We'll automatically tweet for red and amber alerts, and also for minor geomagnetic activity. Automated tweets are limited to a maximum of 3 per 12 hours. Occasionally AuroraWatch UK administrators will also send other interesting tweets.
We operate an email list, this service is free of charge. Messages to this list will be infrequent but important, and will come from two sources:
- Automatic alert messages from our geomagnetic activity monitor. You can choose whether you wish to receive only red alerts, or red and amber alerts. Automatic messages are limited to one per day for the red alert list and two per day for the amber alert list.
- Messages from us, with information about major events, new web pages etc.
We only send messages by email, but some mobile phone networks will send email notifications by SMS. For more details see our SMS page. If you want SMS messages you can also follow us on Twitter.
To subscribe, unsubscribe or change which level of alerts you wish to receive please use our automated service.
RSS
You can follow our Twitter RSS feed:
https://api.twitter.com/1/statuses/user_timeline.rss?screen_name=aurorawatchuk
You can also follow us on Facebook and get notifications sent to your mobile phone as SMS messages. For more information about SMS notifications see the Facebook help centre. We'll post to our Facebook wall for red and amber alerts, and also for minor geomagnetic activity. Automated posts are limited to a maximum of 3 per 12 hours.