|
I had a wonderful Christmas, it was everything I wanted, peace, comfort, fantastic food, reading, watching movies and just generally chilling. Walks and drives by day and more chilling by night, it was exactly what I wanted and in that respect it was perfect. The weather however was completely uneventful over the festive period being entirely grey and overcast, I don't think I saw a single star and my camera collected dust the entire time. Even though I was enjoying the peace I was starting to get restless and began to crave a nature fix, something to start the new year on a positive note. Roisin and I stayed over in Co. Fermanagh on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day and this visit coincided with a major shift in the weather. A cold spell was moving in and before it's arrival the models were showing a much welcomed return to clear skies.
During the pre-dawn hours of New Year's Day at 06.40 I woke up and walked outside for a look at the sky and with great delight I noticed large clear sectors. I was immediately struck by just how dark the night sky was here, I was impressed. I looked high in the E and there was Corona Borealis and I noted there was no new star in the SE corner of the crown so recurrent Nova TCrB hadn't erupted yet. This was my first Astronomical observation of the year and it felt like a good omen for 2025. I checked to the N because a CME was expected to hit during the night however I could see no aurora but the glow of dawn was starting to brighten the sky so I went back inside.
Later that morning Roisin, Rhua and I went to Bundoran to check out the beach and ocean, there were bright sunny spells, yet another good vibe for the new year, those clear skies meant the cold was getting closer, in fact, light snow showers were already falling over high ground back home. We had a nice New Year's Day dinner, I checked the charts before the warm sticky toffee pudding arrived and was impressed to see the Bz at -23, the CME had hit and was generating a stronger geomagnetic storm than expected, it was already at G3 levels. The forecast was for clear breaks after dark so I wondered would we have a chance of seeing something during our drive back home in the afternoon?, I began to get a good feeling, I said to Roisin how awesome would it be to see an aurora on the first night of 2025.
 |
We made our way home just before sunset, then as we crossed the Omagh road I could see a strange glow to the sky in the W/NW, even though it was still twilight I felt sure it was aurora, Roisin could see it too, the sky had that strange glowing milky look to it, I checked the charts and saw an update saying the storm had reached G4 levels!. We literally had just arrived in Cookstown, pulled into the drive way and I opened the car door and looked up, and there was a massive aurora! Huge crimson and pink beams and curtains could easily be seen with the naked eye reaching up to the altitude of Polaris and all over street lights and house lights, it was shocking. I got the drone powered up and flew it to 120m for a look, switched to Pro Mode and began taking exposures. This was 3 sec's at ISO800, it looked like the sky was on fire with pink and red flames, I shot a number of images then landed, I wanted to sort a few things out before I drove out for more images.
I can honestly say never in my life had I seen a bright naked eye aurora in January before, especially on New Year's Day, and a waning G4 geomagnetic storm at that, this was a completely new experience, what a thrilling way to start a new year, this proves just how potent and action packed solar maximum has been and to think we still have another year or two of this kind of activity to come. I had a feeling this was going to be a long night and it was already freezing outside, so I packed some food, a flask and changed into layers of clothes, but before I went out I checked the charts and the aurora had subsided, it looked like the storm was over, however not wanting to be caught off guard I planned to go back out anyway for a watch as sometimes these big storms can flare up again. I then got a message from Paul Martin who was out watching from Co. Fermanagh, he was reporting a massive SARS arc on camera, that sounded good to me, even if the aurora was gone the SARS arc would be worth shooting.
 |
I drove to Lough Fea and met Colleen Webb who was also out aurora hunting. The sky was dark and clear, the ground sparkled below us in the frost and the stars were vivid and beautiful. We could see the faint glow of the aurora 15 degrees high to the N as a bland glow with a hint of green, it was stirring but we felt it wasn't going to go into outburst so we turned our cameras to the W/SW and took an exposure, the camera revealed a stunning red SARS arc, it was actually really impressive showing on camera even after a few seconds of exposure time. It extended from the S, through the SW then down into the W sky in one massive ghostly band. The SARS arc passed straight through Orion and was framed by the Hyades cluster, Jupiter and Pleiades cluster above. Colleen took an image further to the W and called me over with excitement, the arc was even more impressive in that direction so I turned the camera around and took an exposure in that direction.
 |
What a sight, SARS is not the aurora however it is associated with aurora activity and usually only appears during strong geomagnetic storms, either before, during or after the storm, or all of these times, it's entirely unpredictable. It's caused by super heating of the Earth's ring current system by high velocity solar particles. You won't see these reds visually, or if you do they will be extremely faint, however because of their wavelength camera sensors detect the reds easily which is why they show up so red on imagery. We could just about see the SARS arc with the naked eye as a colourless straight but slanted horizontal band just fainter than the Milky Way. I began shooting a time lapse of this scene, my first of the year, Colleen and I watched the sky and chatted for the next hour. We shivered in the frost, we talked about the potential for snow on the way and severe frosts and looked forward to getting something cool on camera if the cold spell was as potent as some were saying, then we called it a night, what a memorable New Year's Day this was. The sticky toffee pudding was up staged by nature.
 |
The celestial wonders continued into 2025, in fact, the following night a beautiful conjunction between Venus and the crescent moon was expected and this promised to be yet another beautiful sight. The show would begin during twilight that evening and as the sky darkened it would get even better, I fully planned on getting images and the forecast was for completely clear skies and another sharp frost. I could see both easily with the naked eye during broad daylight at 15.00, I hadn't had any dinner yet and Roisin was away visiting so I decided to drive to Moneymore for a takeaway. I got some warm food into me, a very good chicken curry with rice it was too, then drove to the chapel at the edge of town as it offered a high vantage point.
The ground was icy in places and I almost slipped carrying the camera along the stone path which led past the graves. I set up the DSLR and shot a time lapse of the conjunction between tree tops, the twilight was still very bright at this stage. Venus was less than 2 degrees above the Moon, the Moon itself was a slender waxing crescent phase, visually the pair were gorgeous, I'd say they were drawing everyone's attention this evening. I ended up getting cool drone footage which I hadn't planned on doing, I just had an instinct to give it a go. I used the digital zoom on the Mavic 3 video mode to make the conjunction look closer and bigger on the sensor, then filmed several segments of the conjunction with the chapel spire and cross in the frame, passing close to it in a straight line or doing a slow wrap around the cross, the end result turned out quite nice, something different.
As the sky darkened more Venus and the Moon seemed to increase in brightness, the Moon's earthshine was also visible adding to the beauty of the scene and not far away to the upper left was planet Saturn. I got the drone up again and this time took several exposures of the scene over the town lights of Moneymore with the lingering twilight glow still in the sky. By now my hands were freezing, the frost was settling in and I could barley feel my fingers from using the drone controller so I ended the session and went back home content where I had a hot whiskey to warm me up.
The cold spell was now well underway, it began with a frontal snow event which produced a lot of snow down south, in fact, they got their best snow in years, however for us the front was weak and never made it too far N, and where it did the precip was so weak it was more like snow drizzle. That drizzle fell all night long however the following day the ground was still wet and black and horrible. Roisin and I took a drive up the Birren road and it had a thick dusting of snow including Mullaghmore, Moneyneany and Slieve Gallion however since this was just on the very tops and it was grey I didn't do any filming, I needed something more photogenic. In the meantime more snow showers fell overnight and the temperatures got colder, I didn't see much of interest for me so far but I needed a better look at the models.
I studied everything when I got back home. Scattered snow showers would continue over the Sperrins during January 5th and 6th, however it was the 7th which got my attention. That day had 100j/kg of CAPE with 60 knots deep layer shear and -30c cloud top temps in a cold NWly flow. Snow showers looked to be mainly over the Sperrins and N of the country with a risk of thundersnow inland and ocean thunderstorms. My goal for the 7th was to capture cold air mass cells/convection and snow curtains, anything else would be a bonus. On the evening of January 6th when temperatures dropped after sunset we got hit by regular snow showers all over Co. Tyrone, I was actually surprised, they were far stronger and longer lasting than the models had showed. I had pulled into TESCOs car park in Cookstown to do some shopping when one such snow shower hit, it was heavy and within minutes the car park was white with snow, I forgot all about the shopping and began filming the snow over the car park, it went on for forty minutes and back at home the place had a good covering, people had their kids out playing in it which was great to see. The radar showed plenty more snow showers moving down and this would continue all through the night.
I didn't sleep well that night in anticipation of the next days chase, I kept checking radar during the night, at 03.00 and 05.00 there where thunderstorms over the Foyle and Donegal. I got up at 07.15 and it was morning twilight, I could see a few stars in the sky and big black snow clouds, it was below freezing outside and the van had snow on the roof and fern frost on the windscreen. Once cleared and van packed I headed off at sunrise hoping to bag at least one good photo opportunity today. When driving over the hill before Desertmartin I saw a fantastic sight ahead, a massive line of convection crossed the entire sky far behind the Sperrins, those showers were solid, some with mammatus, others with long anvils, one cell at the rear looked fantastic with a very steep main updraught like the edge of a cliff and on top was a rock solid cumulus tower with knuckles, it looked like a Summer thunderstorm and the entire line was lit into vivid pink by the morning sun. I reckoned if I could catch any of those today over snow I would call it a complete success.
I made my way up Glenshane Pass and met Nigel McFarland at Proctor's Corner, Nigel had already been out shooting since dawn this morning. There was snow everywhere and the potential was great however we had one major problem. A bank of low dark grey cloud hung over the mountains all morning, it was almost like low level stratus and it didn't seem to move, this low cloud was killing all light so the snow looked grey and lifeless and furthermore it blocked our view of any cells. We decided to wait a while and enjoy the snow in the hope the light would improve, it didn't. I didn't even fly the drone once or take out the DSLR, grey clouds and flat snow scenes do nothing for me, I needed something better. We got the feeling this low cloud was going to hang around all day so we needed to do something, on a whim we decided to drive further W to Benbradagh and although we saw a few breaks the low cloud hung over the hills. It was already past midday and we only had a few hours of daylight left, Nigel suggested trying a little further NW so we made our way across the country roads between Dungiven and Drumsurn then pulled into a lay by where we would spend the next hour and a half.
 |
Our view looked across flat fields and off in the distance was Lough Foyle and Co.Donegal, it was a good spot, we did have some breaks in the cloud but those kept filling in again and regular snow showers passed over us. We spotted these nice snow curtains fast approaching from the Foyle area and for the first time this day I got the drone in the air. These curtains of snow were greatly curved due to increasing winds aloft with their parent tower/anvil leaning for miles downrange once fully developed, as a result we were always covered by anvil cloud or wind driven snow and soft hail well ahead of the main cores, however this was one of the few times we got a proper view.
 |
Snow curtains making a bee line for us driven by 60 knots DLS, I love scenes like this, snow curtains are always something I seek every Winter, they are very dramatic and beautiful. I always wanted to capture a c-g bolt within the curtains however I know that would take tremendous good fortune, just getting the curtains themselves keeps me content, at least I was getting something on camera now. The cell passed over with moderate snow flakes then in the wake we could see the outline of another cell and this one looked big.
 |
Two big Winter Cbs one behind the other approaching from Co. Donegal on the same trek as the previous cell. Nigel and I were out shooting it as soon as it came into view. It's difficult to do justice here because in real life this thing was massive, this wass 15mm on full frame and it wasn't even near us yet. It had a very dark core and I honestly was expecting thundersnow at any moment, look at the base of the cell behind it, very interesting structure. As our main Cb neared it's tower grew so tall that the wind aloft blew it over us for miles ahead of the core, the big white anvil was huge and around its leading edge where solid chunks of mammatus, I said to Nigel ''why isn't this producing thunder?'', we didn't know, it looked the part and was tall enough. At one stage we just used our mobile phones to film the anvil then it got so large we couldn't fit it into any camera FOV. Hail then snow ensued then it passed over the Sperrins behind us with red cores on radar. We had an hour and a half until sunset so we decided to change location, we began the drive to the wind turbine farm above Swatragh.
 |
On the drive up the snow at low levels was thawing and it looked rubbish, Nigel and I both came close to turning around and going home, however we pressed on anyway, we where here so may as well give this day one last go. Once we began to climb the hill and gain elevation above Swatragh the road was transformed into a Winter wonderland, snow with ice below, a few times the van spun but I managed to keep it on the road then we came to a stop near the turbines. It was a completely different world up here, we had proper snow, 7cm where we had parked and it was good compacted snow too. This was the view along the road looking S. Rhua played around in the snow for a while, I had a warm brew then got the drone up, but yet again same issue all day, the sky was overcast with no light, we could see the tops of a nice cell to the NW however the cloud hid much of it from us, we knew we were not going to get any light at all for golden hour, so we just enjoyed the snow visually, we both agreed it felt great to be out in it.
 |
View to the SW over the turbines to a snow shower and the Moon making an appearance. The light was getting low and the temperatures were plummeting, I was struggling to fly the drone, my fingers were numb with the cold, we knew the thermometer would drop to negative numbers soon and this road could be problematic later so we decided to end our shoot and head home. Even though this day had been frustrating regarding light we still enjoyed it and at least I got a couple of cells and snow curtains. However, with several more days of the cold spell remaining and with models showing no more major snow showers I was wondering would this be it?, was my chance of Winter photo opportunities over?, I really wanted something else to take this cold spell to the next level.
GFS showed severe low temperatures every single night across N. Ireland, anywhere from -1c to -7c, every night would be clear and with increased humidity there was a chance of freezing fog. I had been chatting with Colleen Webb and Paul Martin about the potential for rare hoar frost scenes, the atmosphere was hinting at the potential, baltic temperatures, no wind, freezing fog, we just needed to find out where the fog would be to increase our chances of success. I was planning on a hoar frost hunt on January 9th however I wasn't sure where to go, maybe Lough Neagh, or Glenshane Forest or Davagh Forest, but I couldn't decide. On the night of the 8th it was brutal cold outside so things looked good for the 9th, Met Office yellow weather warnings were issued for ice and frost and fog, everything we needed for a good photo shoot.
While this cold spell was going on I had been in regular touch with Veronica Cunningham from the BBC who was filming Chronicles Of The Sperrins. If you have been reading my recent website reports or follow me on social media then you will know that I was being featured on the show along with others. The idea was to film people with different hobbies or jobs in the Sperrins through all four seasons. Veronica and her crew had spent the entire year filming and I had already met them during Spring, Summer and Autumn and we had a great success with epic auroras, NLCs and a rare comet, however we needed something else to finish the Winter episode with me. Originally we were going to do a moonlit ending at Lough Fea under the stars but for various reasons it kept getting put off, then Veronica contacted me about the snow saying why don't we take advantage of this.
She and the crew were filming Winter scenes at Gortin Glen Forest on the 9th and I thought it was great synchronicity as I had a feeling the Omagh and Gortin areas could be great for scenes, in fact, I had a gut feeling about going there, but hadn't committed yet. Then I got a message from Paul Martin saying he was spending the day snow chasing in the same area and suggested we should meet up, all of this was a sign from the Universe that I should go to Gortin. It all made sense, Paul and I would get a Winter chase together and I would meet Veronica later to wrap up the show, it was meant to be. I was game, the weather was ticking all the boxes, to be honest even though Paul and I would be happy enough with any snow it was the hoar frost that lured us out most of all, however it was a complete gamble if any would form or not, it would be a case of just going out looking for it and hoping to get lucky. Before going to bed Paul informed me there was freezing fog in Omagh, this was a good sign yet again.
I woke up at 07.00 to ice everywhere, I packed the van, had a warm breakfast, cleared the windscreen then Rhua and I hit the road. It was morning twilight and the sun would not be rising for more than an hour, this was intentional as we needed to be on location at first light during the coldest part of the morning, this when the best magic usually happens in Winter, you really do have to be an early riser to get the good stuff. I couldn't believe the transformation once I left Cookstown, the Omagh road was beautiful, snow everywhere, a true Winter wonderland, it was stunning in all directions, I knew then we were going to score. I was making very good progress, the stretch of road between Beaghmore and the Seven Sisters Lakes was remarkable. Snow as far as the eye could see in all directions over a vast open landscape and hoar frost covering everything!, jack pot, I couldn't believe our luck.
Amazing scenes in every direction, I resisted the urge to just pull over and start shooting, I knew from my last experience hunting hoar frost scenes that it's not that easy from a photography perspective. You could jump out snapping in all directions, take 400 images, and not have a single good one you would be happy with. The reason is the landscape was cluttered with trees and bushes, visually fantastic but on camera it can be very difficult to make sense of it all. In this situation it's important to stay calm and wait for that special moment, that landscape or group of trees which you encounter by accident and which draws you in like a magnet. I continued driving then met Paul at a filling station outside Omagh, he was buzzing just as much as I was, but where to begin?, Paul suggested checking out Loughmacrory first which I thought was a very good idea.
 |
The country road to the lough was stunning, snow in the fields and hoar frost on the everything, some of the best scenes where at road sides where we couldn't stop or in people's gardens so we continued to the lake and walked out through the crunchy snow for an explore. It was one of those amazing Winter mornings when you were thankful for being alive, you know what I mean?, deep snow on the ground, bushes covered in frost, but what shocked us most was that a good portion of the lake was frozen over. The sun popped up behind a bank of freezing fog and we got our drones in the air. Lough Macrory at first light with scattered wisps of freezing fog and a big snow shower in the distance to the N.
 |
As you can see the lough is an irregular oval not unlike an impact crater and surrounded by trees along its entire circumference, it can be very sheltered there hence why it froze so rapidly, the temperature had dropped to -7c in the area this morning, one of the coldest places in N. Ireland so we had chose our location well.
 |
Camera panned down on the ice, my fingers were freezing, actually brutal cold touching the RC sticks, it was difficult to do a smooth flight for any extended period without major discomfort and wanting to drop the controller. Paul yelled ''Rhua'', I turned to where he was looking and was struck with horror, Rhua was walking across the ice on the frozen lake!, I took my eyes off her for two minutes and she some how ends up over the lake. I was hit with sudden anxiety, if that ice broke she would fall into the freezing water, and the water is deep there, I don't know if she would have been able to swim back, I would definitely try to save her but I haven't swimmed since primary school and with heavy boots and layers of clothes on I didn't fancy my chances either. We both called her and thankfully she casually walked back to the shore looking at us as if to say what was the fuss about, that was close.
 |
We spent a good hour flying the drones and enjoying the scenes, then decided to move on. We both agreed the road on the way in was spectacular so any of us might suddenly pull over at any time to get a few images, if we could find somewhere to safely do so. As we drove along we were greeted by epic hoar frost scenes left and right of the road, scenes so good we could have spent several hours investigating. Then I saw a group of trees on a hill which caught my eye, I sent a mental alert to Paul, and he began to Paul over, he had seen them too, great minds think alike. So we got the vans onto the side of the road and go out for a look, camera bags opened and drones getting set up. Here's an image taken by Paul of us in the zone.
 |
There was a row of spectacular trees covered in hoar frost so we focused all our energy on those, I walked into the field with the 100-400mm on the 5D Mark IV and grabbed a few ground shots. Perfect tree scenes already, these were maybe 300m away and up on a hill on the other side of a hedge, I wanted to get them with the drone, however some cloud was covering the sun so I waited for it to pass to get better light. Paul was wasting no time either, he knew what he wanted, his Mavic 3 Pro was powering up and airborne and away on yet another aerial adventure. I waited for Paul to finish his flight first, in the meantime the region around me looked stunning.
 |
I walked up a snow covered embankment, I wanted to get over to that tree on the left but it was in a garden with that house nearby so I couldn't get any further, it looked like a Christmas card scene, then I looked to my right at the wire fence which marked the edge of a field.
 |
The fence was covered in thick hoar frost, a stunning sight, now the low sun was shinning and I had blue skies, this was the kind of scene I was after, I honestly never thought I would see frost this thick today, this was beyond my expectations.
 |
Absolutely gorgeous!
 |
Hoar frost forms once frozen water droplets make contact with any surface, there must have been freezing fog here earlier, this combined with -7c temps and dead calm air was the perfect atmospheric factory for this special kind of frost. The process actually goes from the liquid phase to a solid phase without going through the gas transition, this is called sublimation, similar to what happens on the nucleus of a comet. Those ice crystals stack on top of one another into accumulations, hoar frost can look like blades, needles or rice, it can have a semi clear or white look depending upon how thick the covering is, many often mistake it for snow.
 |
Nature sure can be amazing
 |
This was an accumulation of hoar frost on a fence post which really grabbed by eye, it almost looked like distant convection on a multicell thunderstorm with crisp cauliflower tops, the frost here was approx 1.5 inches thick. I half walked and half slid down the snowy slope to the van and got the drone powered up, the light was perfect, it could change any minute, I was eager to fly out to those majestic trees.
 |
Drone flying low across the fields, up over the hedge, and over into the adjacent field at the brow of a hill, drone with it's back to the sun to get the best light on the trees. This was less than one hour after sunrise, everything was crisp and perfect with untouched snow in the fields. This was exactly what I had been looking for, I was buzzing, I began hovering low over the snow taking still images and recording video sequences, my hands shook as much from excitement as from the cold.
 |
That's not snow on the trees, it's hoar frost!, I was hopeful of getting some hoar frost today but nothing like this, to say I was happy was an understatement, Paul was still flying his drone, two mavics in the air savoring every moment of this beautiful morning. Paul and I actually met on our first ever photo shoot during the severe Winter of 2010, we had a great day shooting snow and our first ever hoar frost on the back roads near Ballyronan and Magherafelt, those scenes were truly epic, so it seemed fitting that we met up to enjoy the frost one more time. I got a video sequence here which I was really happy with, flying low and slow approaching the tree, tilting camera slowly upward as if you where walking under it, then lifting up and doing a wrap around the entire frosted canopy then backing away, it was fun. Make sure to click on page two for more images.
Martin McKenna
