Research names London as the worst place to watch fireworks on Bonfire Night, where are the best?

London might have bright lights and a big city atmosphere but for watching Bonfire Night displays, science has shown it’s the worst.
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Research conducted into the best and worst places to watch fireworks on Bonfire Night has concluded that London is the worst area to watch them. The city is ranked above both Manchester and Leeds according to LotteryCritic’s most recent study.

But before any arguments between cities and counties begin, London has been rated low due to the amount of light pollution the area has which may prevent an optimal viewing experience in the capital. The densely populated boroughs within London have been taken into account when the survey was conducted, rather than focus on how many bonfire events are on offer, or how good they are.

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The research, conducted throughout 2022 up to the start of October, has factored in the level of light pollution each area surveyed has, by entering the latitude and longitude of 82 different areas across the UK. Readings for the Bortle scale (class 1 - 9), SQM (mag./arc sec2) and artificial brightness (µcd/m2) were collected for each location on the list.

A rank score out of 100 was created for every location, summarising the three readings into a final score, by using the average percentrank formula on the three variables, uncovering the best location in the UK to watch fireworks.

St. Davids in Pembrokeshire earned itself the number one spot with a score of 74.40 with Uckfield and Truro making up the top three, respectively. London however was at the bottom of the list with a total of 28.93 - the only area surveyed to get a score below 29.

Top ten worst places to spend Bonfire Night

The worst places to watch fireworks this Bonfire Night, according to LotteryCritic’s research, are as follows (from worst to best):

  1. London (28.93)
  2. Manchester (29.23)
  3. Leeds (29.53)
  4. Glasgow (29.83)
  5. Birmingham (30.13)
  6. Salford (30.43)
  7. Liverpool (30.73)
  8. Sheffield (31.03)
  9. Newcastle (31.33)
  10. Aberdeen (31.63)

Top ten places to spend Bonfire Night in the UK

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Here are the top ten best places to spend Bonfire Night in the UK, according to the light data pollution data gathered by LotteryCritic:

  1. St. Davids (74.40)
  2. Uckfield (73.80)
  3. Truro (73.50)
  4. Wells (73.20)
  5. Kendal (72.90)
  6. Ripon (71.40)
  7. Winchester (71.10)
  8. Eastbourne (70.80)
  9. Haverhill (70.80)
  10. Elgin (70.20)