Northern lights in Norfolk tonight

Holkham Beach is a vast north-facing sand beach backed by Corsican pine forest, with no settlement lighting along its 3 km length. The beach faces directly north across the North Sea with a flat, unobstructed horizon. The pine forest behind reduces light scatter from the south. Bortle 3 conditions at the beach edge, dropping to Bortle 2 in the dune and forest areas. One of the darkest and most northward-facing beaches in England - the north Norfolk coast as a whole has some of the least light-polluted sky in East Anglia, and Holkham is its benchmark.

A 4 km shingle spit managed by the National Trust, accessible on foot from Cley or by boat from Morston. The outer end of the spit is dark in all compass directions - sea and salt marsh all around, with no roads and no artificial lights beyond the distant glow of Cromer to the east. The north-facing end gives an open North Sea horizon. Blakeney Point is among the most naturally dark accessible coastal sites in England. The walk in the dark is manageable with a head torch, and the sense of remoteness on the spit at night is striking.

The Brecks on the Norfolk-Suffolk border is one of England's least-known dark sky areas. The Thetford Forest - the largest lowland pine forest in England - absorbs light rather than scattering it, and the surrounding heath and arable land has minimal settlement. High Lodge Visitor Centre in Thetford Forest is a designated dark sky access point. On the north side of the forest, the open heath gives Bortle 3 conditions with a clear northern sky. A practical inland option for those south of Norwich, or when coastal fog makes the north Norfolk sites inaccessible.