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Northern lights in Iceland
All of Iceland lies close under the auroral oval, so the Kp barely matters. Darkness and cloud decide most nights, and the Icelandic Met Office forecasts both.
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Tonight, town by town
Each town's corrected geomagnetic latitude and the Kp that brings the aurora onto its northern horizon or overhead, on NOAA's rule, with tonight's verdict from NOAA's forecast for its hours of darkness. Clouds are not included.
| Town | Geomag. latitude | On the horizon from | Overhead from | How often (NOAA) | Tonight |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ísafjörður | 66.5° | any Kp | any Kp | below storm level | Loading… |
| Akureyri | 65.5° | any Kp | Kp 0.3 | below storm level | Loading… |
| Egilsstaðir | 64.6° | any Kp | Kp 0.7 | below storm level | Loading… |
| Höfn | 63.6° | any Kp | Kp 1.2 | below storm level | Loading… |
| Reykjavík | 64.2° | any Kp | Kp 0.9 | below storm level | Loading… |
| Vík | 63.1° | any Kp | Kp 1.5 | below storm level | Loading… |
What the local experts say
Clouds decide
The Icelandic Met Office: "The spectacle of Aurora Borealis requires dark and partly clear skies." Its aurora page maps the cloud cover forecast over Iceland, with clear skies shown in white.
Icelandic Met OfficeIts own activity scale
The Icelandic Met Office shows "auroral activity at midnight, scale 0 to 9", a Kp-like scale, beside its cloud map.
Icelandic Met OfficeThe season
Iceland has no real darkness around midsummer (the table below), so the season runs from late August to April. NOAA: "the high latitudes where aurora occur are also latitudes where it doesn't get dark in the summer."
NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterThe hours
NOAA: "Best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight". In Iceland the clock runs about an hour and a half ahead of the Sun, so the darkest hours are centred near 1:30 AM.
NOAA Space Weather Prediction CenterHow dark it gets, month by month
Hours with the Sun more than 12° below the horizon on the 15th of each month, which is dark enough for the aurora to show, and the middle of the night on the local clock in midwinter. "None" means the aurora cannot be seen even when it is there.
| Town | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Darkest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ísafjörður | 15 h | 12 h | 9 h | 3 h | none | none | none | none | 7 h | 11 h | 14 h | 15 h | 01:31 |
| Akureyri | 15 h | 12 h | 9 h | 3 h | none | none | none | none | 7 h | 11 h | 14 h | 15 h | 01:11 |
| Egilsstaðir | 14 h | 12 h | 9 h | 4 h | none | none | none | none | 7 h | 11 h | 14 h | 15 h | 00:56 |
| Höfn | 14 h | 12 h | 9 h | 4 h | none | none | none | none | 7 h | 11 h | 14 h | 15 h | 01:00 |
| Reykjavík | 14 h | 12 h | 9 h | 4 h | none | none | none | 1 h | 7 h | 11 h | 14 h | 15 h | 01:26 |
| Vík | 14 h | 12 h | 9 h | 5 h | none | none | none | 2 h | 7 h | 11 h | 13 h | 15 h | 01:14 |
Check your own town
Anywhere in the world: your geomagnetic latitude, what it takes there, tonight's dark hours and NOAA's forecast for them.
Aurora alerts by email
Free, and only on nights the forecast brings the aurora within reach of your sky. Checked once a day.
Kp, the last day and the next three
NOAA's planetary Kp in three-hour blocks. From Kp 5 it is a geomagnetic storm.
Questions
What Kp do I need to see the northern lights in Iceland?
It depends on the town. Ísafjörður needs no storm: on NOAA's rule the aurora can reach its horizon at any Kp. Vík needs no storm: on NOAA's rule the aurora can reach its horizon at any Kp. The table on this page has every town. These come from NOAA's rule of thumb (the oval's edge at about 66° geomagnetic latitude at Kp 0, 2° nearer the equator per Kp step) with 500 km of horizon, which NOAA calls approximate. (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
When is it dark enough?
Not all year. Ísafjörður has no proper darkness in May, Jun, Jul, Aug; Akureyri has no proper darkness in May, Jun, Jul, Aug; Egilsstaðir has no proper darkness in May, Jun, Jul, Aug: the Sun never gets 12° below the horizon. The months table on this page shows the hours of darkness each month. (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
What time of night is best?
NOAA: "Best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10 PM and 2 AM local time)." In midwinter the darkest hours here are centred near 01:31 on Ísafjörður's clocks. (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
Which way should I look?
North. NOAA: "Find a place where you can see to the north (or south if you are in the southern hemisphere)." Further from the oval it shows only low over that horizon, and a camera records more than the eye. (NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Met Office)
How often does it happen?
NOAA counts about 900 days per 11-year solar cycle at G1 (Kp 5), 360 at G2 (Kp 6) and 130 at G3 (Kp 7). Towns that need no storm can see it on many clear, dark nights; NOAA notes "very nice auroral displays even with low geomagnetic activity (Kp = 3 or 4)" from the right place. (NOAA SWPC, NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)
Sources
The Kp each town needs is NOAA's rule of thumb applied to its corrected geomagnetic latitude (AACGM-v2 at 110 km, 2026), with 500 km of horizon. The dark hours are worked out from the Sun's position. Quotes are from the pages below, read in October 2026.
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: Tips on viewing the aurora
- NOAA SWPC: Space weather scales (G1 to G5)
- NOAA SWPC: Planetary Kp, observed and 3-day forecast (data feed)
- NOAA SWPC: Aurora, 30-minute forecast (the OVATION model)
- Shepherd, S. G. (2014): Altitude-adjusted corrected geomagnetic coordinates (AACGM-v2), J. Geophys. Res. Space Physics 119, 7501
- Icelandic Met Office: Aurora forecast
- Met Office: Auroras
More places: UK and Scotland · Norway and Scandinavia · Canada · Alaska and the northern US · Southern lights: New Zealand and Tasmania. Photography tips and the full forecast are on northern lights tonight.