When my husband said last week that a severe geomagnetic storm was heading our way promising the very real possibility of seeing the auroras, I was sceptical. We've been down this road before - quite literally.

When I first started writing this a week ago, the rain was hammering down in vertical sheets filling the house with a dark and gloomy atmosphere. Looking out of the window today the sun is bright, the sky blue and I can see the snow capping the mountains just beyond.