I'm a North East storm chaser and travelled to Alaska to see the Northern Lights

Abbi Adair travels from South Shields to ‘Tornado Alley’, in the United States of America, every two years to chase extreme storms.

After previously travelling across over five states including Texas and Colorado over the summer of 2024, she returned to the USA recently to try and check out one of the most incredible natural phenomena on the planet.

“After my last storm chasing trip, the friends I’ve made friends I’ve made doing this suggested a visit to Alaska to chase the Aurora Borealis” explained Abbi.

“One of the storm chasing drivers lives and works in Fairbanks when he’s not storm chasing, so we also decided to drop by and take him out for dinner while we were there. Why wouldn’t I say yes? A new adventure with friends who enjoy the same experiences.”

This is her fourth time in the US to try and catch storms as they travel through, although she usually sticks to ‘tornado alley’ which stretches north from Texas. She has since started deviating from this however, visiting British Columbia in August 2024 before her Alaskan trip.

“The UK has such a temperate, or boring, climate and we get cool, wet winters and warm, wet summers” adds Abbi.

“The UK rarely features the extremes of heat or cold, drought or wind that are common in North America. While we’ve been lucky to see the Aurora on our doorstep in October - nothing compares to the dancing lights we saw in the sky on this trip!”

Abbi travels across the US with ‘Tempest Tours’ - a group that offer expeditions to tourists who are wanting to see extreme weather.

“I’m impulsive” she says, “but I also love something to look forward to so it’s a combination of both; spur of the moment trips, and future planning. Storm chasing has to be planned as the seats on the tours sell out a year or two in advance.

“I’ve got two tours booked in June 2026. While you’re never guaranteed weather conditions, the chances of what I want to see and experience are higher in North America.”