Capital Region, IcelandMagnetic latitude 64.1°Population 40,04037 m above sea level
Northern lights in Kópavogur
From Kópavogur the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north-north-west when activity is quiet, higher and overhead when it picks up. Since 1995 storms of Kp 4.7 or more reached this place during darkness on 825 nights.
Right now
The aurora may be in view right now — go outside and look north-north-west!
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 2.3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (38% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:35 to 06:50. A bright moon (71%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 22:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north-north-west, low over the horizon.
Wednesday 21 October — Good chance · Kp 4.7 · best around 01:30 · Forecast cloud: 33%. · Reliability: good
Each box is one night: the colour shows the chance, the number the expected Kp. Tap a night for details.
📅 Add these nights to your calendar — it updates itself (.ics)
How far ahead can the northern lights be forecast?
- Minutes to an hour: satellites 1.5 million km away measure the solar wind before it reaches Earth. This is the surest warning — the “Right now” box uses it.
- 1–3 days: when the Sun throws out a cloud of particles, it takes one to three days to arrive. NOAA's 3-hourly forecast covers these nights; the timing can still be off by a few hours.
- 4–27 days: the Sun turns once every 27 days, and regions that disturbed Earth's field last time often do it again. NOAA's 27-day outlook gives this rough trend — new eruptions are not in it yet.
Tonight
Updated 21:59 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 22:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 38%.
- Dark enough
- 19:35 – 06:50
- Sunset
- 17:50 · sunrise 08:36
- Moon
- 71% · ↑ 17:21 · ↓ 01:12
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 0
- Look towards
- north-north-west (346°)
Cloud layers and weather
Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.
| Time | Tue, 21 | Wed, 00 | Wed, 03 | Wed, 06 | Wed, 21 | Thu, 00 | Thu, 03 | Thu, 06 | Thu, 21 | Fri, 00 | Fri, 03 | Fri, 06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 14% | 7% | 6% | 6% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 11% | 8% | 10% | 16% |
| Mid cloud | 38% | 3% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 7% | 15% | 10% | 6% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 3 °C | 2 °C | 2 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C | 1 °C |
| Feels like | 1 °C | 1 °C | 0 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -2 °C | -2 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -1 °C | -2 °C | -2 °C |
| Wind | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Weather in Kópavogur
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Kópavogur: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Kópavogur on Atlas of Seasons.
Seeing it right now?
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Live webcams near Kópavogur
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Reykjavík ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Perlan over Reykjavík (north) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Perlan over Reykjavík (east) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Perlan over Reykjavík (west) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Þorbjörn, Grindavík ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
Do you host guests in Kópavogur? Give them a free aurora forecast page and a QR poster for your property. Create a guest page →
What you would see from Kópavogur
Facing north-north-west. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Visible to the north-north-west | 20° | 35° | 267 km |
| 2 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 3 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 4 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 5 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south-south-east | – | – | – |
The Kp scale in plain words
Kp is a 0–9 score for how strongly the Earth's magnetic field is being shaken by the solar wind. The higher it goes, the further from the poles the northern lights reach. Kp 0–2 is a quiet night; Kp 5 and above is a geomagnetic storm.
- Kp 0–2 Quiet eye in Kópavogur Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
- Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) next 24 h Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
- Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
- Kp 8 Severe storm (G4) Central Europe to the eye; red sky in photos from northern Italy, Spain, the Balkans and Turkey's Black Sea coast.
- Kp 9 Extreme storm (G5) Seen across Europe and the US; in photos as far south as the Mediterranean, Turkey and North Africa (May 2024).
Light pollution
City sky. City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
Estimate from NASA VIIRS night-light data (sky-glow model within 50 km). Check access and private land before you go.
Hills and mountains
The horizon towards the north-north-west is open (terrain below 0.6°), so low aurora is not blocked.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Kópavogur
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
December has been the best month (39% of nights), followed by November (33%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 29% | 29% | 7.1 h | 6° / 10°C |
| October | 31% | 31% | 10.5 h | 2° / 6°C |
| November | 33% | 33% | 13.3 h | 0° / 3°C |
| December | 39% | 39% | 14.6 h | -2° / 2°C |
| January | 29% | 29% | 14.0 h | -2° / 2°C |
| February | 29% | 29% | 11.5 h | -2° / 2°C |
| March | 28% | 28% | 8.6 h | -1° / 3°C |
| April | 24% | 29% | 3.8 h | 1° / 5°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 26 April to 16 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Next new moon 9 November, next full moon 26 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Kópavogur since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 3 April 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 February 2026 · Kp 5.3
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Reykjavík Domestic Airport (RKV) · 2 km
Keflavik International Airport (KEF) · 37 km - Typical low / high in December
- -2° / 2°C
- What to wear
- Below freezing at night: thermal layers, a warm jacket, hat, gloves and winter boots. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- Under Regulation 822/2004, studded tyres and chains are prohibited from 15 April to 31 October unless driving conditions require them, as judged by local police. The Icelandic Road and Coastal Administration (Vegagerðin) publishes road conditions on umferdin.is. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Off-road driving is banned under the Nature Conservation Act no. 60/2013 and punishable by fines or imprisonment. Exceptions are glaciers and solidly frozen or snow-covered ground where nature cannot be damaged. You may park only about one car's width off the road, and only where it causes no damage or accident risk.
- Official space-weather service
- Icelandic Met Office aurora forecast
- Weather service
- Icelandic Met Office (Veðurstofa Íslands)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Kópavogur?
From Kópavogur the aurora can show up on almost any clear, dark night — low to the north-north-west when activity is quiet, higher and overhead when it picks up.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Kópavogur?
Face north-north-west (about 346° from true north). At Kp 0 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 20° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Kópavogur?
Over 2005–2025, December gave the best odds in Kópavogur (39% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by November (33%).
When is the aurora season in Kópavogur?
From 26 April to 16 August the sky in Kópavogur never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Kópavogur?
City lights hide all but the brightest displays. Plan to leave the urban area.
When was the aurora last possible in Kópavogur?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Kópavogur on 10 October 2026 (Kp 5.7) — 825 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Kópavogur share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Kópavogsbær 3 km