Time lapse video of the Aurora Borealis over the North Wales coast #1

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Talk about being in the right place at the right time!

When my wife Liz and I decided to drive to Prestatyn on the North wales coast for an afternoon stroll along the promenade, little did we know what lay in store.

We had finished our walk, and I was busy filming a time lapse video of the sunset over the mountains of Snowdonia to the west, when this lady came up to me and asked me if I was getting ready to film the aurora, as she had just had a red alert from her aurora app.

Well, we weren't expecting that, as the aurora had been quite disappointing over the winter of 2023/24, but Liz checked her app and sure enough, something big was brewing.

So after sunset (I was still filming from Prestatyn promenade at this point) we headed up into the hills above the town, to a little known viewpoint at the village of Gwaenysgor which gives a panoramic view over a great swathe of the North Wales coast, from the Little Orme to the west, around to Gronant in the east, and with a great view northwards over Prestatyn itself and out over the Irish Sea including the offshore wind turbines of the Gwynt-y-Môr wind farm.

An it seems we got there just in time, as no sooner had I set up my camera and tripod and started shooting, than a green glow appeared on my camera's rear screen and, as time progressed, the glowing green band increased in intensity until, all of sudden, pinky mauve rays burst into view higher in the sky.

Just amazing, so I kept of filming until the solar activity died down, which also coincided with the arrival of a bank of thickish cloud, so it was time to pack up and head home, much later than orignally planned.

So a big 'Thank you' to that anonymous lady who tipped us off, or we would have missed such a beautiful and dramatic show.

The best aurora display we've seen so far!