I live quite south, so this is relatively rare in the area and most people miss them when they are about
That they’re relatively rare there surprises me. You’re at about 60° north, I would have assumed that they were semi-common. I’m at 45° north and have seen them only twice, once rather faintly and once brilliantly awe-inspiring even though I lived pretty much in the middle of the metro area at the time.
Rare has conditions with it. The best time to see them in this area is in the late autumn, but the late autumn is almost always cloudy and wet. So having them and getting to see them are tow different things. Up north about 800km (500mi) in lappland it gets much colder earlier, so the skies are clear and tgeybare very bright. I have only seen them there on one trip, but they were amazing. I had no proper camera with me back then and phones didn't have cameras in them yet :D
It is that "awe-inspiring" feeling I love about them.