Tonight we were treated to an even more spectacular display from the Northern Lights. I sat in the viewing dome on top of the Northern Studies Centre for more than an hour watching them arcing across the whole horizon to the north of us. Sometimes green, usually just white but always moving... much like iron filings drawn by a magnet.

That was a good end to my least favourite day so far. I wasn't well in the night but made it up for the 7.00am briefing because yesterday had been my day to prepare the log book and I had to present it. Afterwards, as the weather was truly awful (60mph winds with heavy rain mixed with snow) we had to stay indoors and do labwork. I excused myself and went back to bed until lunchtime.

In the afternoon I did get up and go out with Eleanor, one of the research assistants, to a tundra site to collect nutrient probes. We saw more Snow Geese, maybe 50 or 60, still hanging on before heading south to Texas for the winter.

This evening Peter Kershaw gave us a presentation on Climate Change which was just so shocking. Nick, a polar bear expert, who joined us describes himself as a 'Polar Bear Historian' because of the horrible inevitability of their decline.

Tomorrow is our day off and I hope the weather is better because I've opted to go 'Adventure Walking' with a local naturalist.