 Is there a certain time in the evening when you stand a better chance of seeing them?
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 It's a life long ambition of mine to see the Northern Lights so i've looked into them for a long time.
The last few nights were supposed to provide a 'chance' of seeing them in uk , but at best even with perfect conditions the best forecast said there was a 35% chance of seeing them. Perfect conditions are a cloudless sky and the moon not being too bright or full. Neither of which has really happened and from what I read up on the sightings in the last few days have been very vague and sketchy.
As far as the time it could happen at any time that it's dark. Could last for seconds could last for hours. I think in uk we're only ever likely to catch the briefest of glimpses if we're very lucky.
I'm planning a trip to Tromso in the far north of Norway next year hoping to see them .... Fingers crossed.
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I think it really is down to luck. I've seen them once (near the Scottish border, driving north on the M6) but just a series of white flashes and over in seconds. A friend of mine grew up in Aberdeen and saw them fairly often and my father once saw them from East Anglia. I'd love to see them in their full glory. It must be a truly awe inspiring sight.
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 Best chance of seeing them, apart from being blessed with the weather, is to know when they will be turned on  Aurorawatch will give you alerts by email and are now twittering and facebooking. Geofizz also have good forecast and is less reactive than Aurorawatch. There's another useful space weather forecast here. And if all else fails, look at the pretty pictures here. It is possible to see them in England, I did on 21st January 2005 in Glossop, which came as a bit of a surprise. FWIW, solar activity is now on the rise again after a few years of being at the bottom of the 11-year cycle. Next peak will be winter 2013/14, so now's as good a time as any to subscribe to aurorawatch and start planning a trip north...
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Best chance of seeing them, apart from being blessed with the weather, is to know when they will be turned on Aurorawatch will give you alerts by email and are now twittering and facebooking. Geofizz also have good forecast and is less reactive than Aurorawatch. There's another useful space weather forecast here. And if all else fails, look at the pretty pictures here. It is possible to see them in England, I did on 21st January 2005 in Glossop, which came as a bit of a surprise. FWIW, solar activity is now on the rise again after a few years of being at the bottom of the 11-year cycle. Next peak will be winter 2013/14, so now's as good a time as any to subscribe to aurorawatch and start planning a trip north...
Thanks Richard,just what I was after. 
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And if all else fails, look at the pretty pictures here.
Some lovely images on here from around 20:00 tonight actually...
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The times I've seen them have been in Finnish Lapland in Autumn and Winter. I think they can also be seen occassionally in Northern Scotland. They tend to start a few hours after sunset when the sky is totally black and of course clear. They tend to go through phases throughout the night and generally by the early hours they are gone. The farther north you go the better chance you have. I think Tromso is the hot spot because it also gets regular clear skies. We are now entering a peak of solar activity so I'd plan some trips as far North as you can. The prediction websites give you a few days advanced warning because the ionized particles take longer to reach the earth than light from the solar flares etc. I got a nice photo last time with a 20 second exposure. Has anyone else got any photography tips? Stew www.70north.co.uk
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 Hi stewart, i havent seen anything yet, I have been keeping an eye on http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/ Its cloudy in the Scottish Highlands ( windy at present ) my camera moves in the wind when on a tripod  . I was trying to take photos of the stars but the camera wouldnt pick them up, I havent had a chance with the Northern Lights yet. There was a full moon a few days ago, perhaps it would be easier to see them when the moon is smaller.
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Thanks for the link. Not sure why you couldn't get the stars coming out. I used a variety of exposures up to 30 seconds and got results. The problem I found was that the Earths rotation causes the stars to appear to move. I could only recognize the constellation I was photographing but there was no sharpness. I know that you can get equipment to "track" across the sky for longer exposures but I bet it costs a bomb. The moon shouldn't pose much of a problem if its in the Southern sky. The shots I got on the Northern Lights were on a moonlit night. stew www.70north.co.uk
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Great shots there on Flickr. I'm no expert myself. I don't know if you caught the highly active Aurora activity recently - last week I think it was supposed to be pretty active.
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I havent seen the "Northern Lights" from the house as there is a small hill between meand the Northern horizon,I would have to drive 2 miles down the road and if theres nothing then drive back ( you could spend the whole evening doing that and not see anything ) but I have been keeping an eye on that Aurora watch site but when ive been looking at it there hasnt been a lot of activity, its also been cloudy for the last while .
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