Singapore Holiday Makers Drawn to the Northern Lights

BATH, England, September 15, 2014 /PRNewswire/ --

After a spectacular start to the 2014 Northern Lights season following two strong solar flares that reached Earth this weekend, leading Northern Lights travel company, Off the Map Travel, has seen the number of holiday-makers from Singapore searching for a break to experience the greatest light show on Earth rise by 621% on the previous year.

     (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140915/706081 )

"We are in an active period of solar activity called the Solar Maximum, which produces ideal conditions for the Northern Lights," said Jonny Cooper, founder and director of specialist Northern Lights company Off the Map Travel. "You always have the chance of seeing an aurora. You need clear, dark skies and to travel to a spot under the auroral oval such as Northern Sweden. The thing that excites aurora hunters this season is that this active period of solar activity is giving us an even better chance to see brighter more vivid displays."

NASA scientists unanimously agree that in June 2014 we reached Solar Maximum. They also predict that most significant geomagnetic storms that cause the Northern Lights, like those last weekend, will occur now. Doug Bieseker, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, has analysed historical records of solar activity saying: "Most large events such as strong flares and significant geomagnetic storms typically occur in the declining phase of solar cycles."

Jonny Cooper, director of Off the Map Travel added: "This is great news for anyone who has dreamed of experiencing the Northern Lights."

The Northern Lights have always been a mystical part of cultures in the north. From the Sami people who thought it was the souls of the departed to people from Chinese who once believed it to be fiery breath of dragons fighting in the sky - the Northern Lights have been revered and misunderstood across history.

More recently, the seeing the Aurora Borealis regular tops surveys of must-do travel experiences, and has become a life changing experience for many already in Singapore. Jonny Cooper adds: "It was seeing the Northern Lights in Bjorkliden and Abisko, in Swedish Lapland, that first captured my imagination about the aurora - it is one of the most remarkable areas to experience the Aurora in its full glory."

Off the Map Travel is one of the UK's leading tailor-made Northern Lights adventure holiday companies. A four night trip to Bjorkliden and Abisko in northern Sweden would cost from £1,399 per person on a full-board basis including accommodation for three nights in a four-star hotel and one night in a traditional Swedish fishing hut on a frozen lake with 180-degree uninterrupted views. Price includes a Lights over Lapland photography trip, dogsledding and snowmobiling for two adults; flights excluded.

For more information on Northern Lights experiences visit http://www.offthemaptravel.sg, or speak to the experts on +441761-255000.

For free images, videos  and background information  download here. All pictures must be credited: Chad Blakley Lights Over Lapland