Norway345 places
Northern Lights in Norway: Where and When to See Them
Parts of Norway lie right under the auroral oval: near Tromsø the aurora can appear on almost any clear, dark night. Near Tromsø, September has historically been the best month (20% of nights).
Can you see the northern lights in Norway tonight?
Possibly, if the sky is clear. Tonight's forecast reaches Kp 2.7, enough for the aurora to be visible by eye from 48 towns in Norway after dark, for example Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim. A camera may also catch it from 29 more towns.
Only in photos tonight
You also need a clear sky and real darkness: each town's page shows its cloud forecast and best hour tonight.
Where the aurora is visible tonight 3-day Kp forecast
Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC, checked every 10 minutes.
Featured destinations
Kp 0 Tromsø
Troms
Kp 0 Bodø
Nordland
Kp 0 Alta
Finnmark
Kp 0 Narvik
Nordland
Kp 0 Hammerfest
Finnmark
Kp 0 Sortland
Nordland
Kp 0 Svolvær
Nordland
Kp 0 Senja
Troms
Kp 0 Kirkenes
Finnmark
Kp 0 Honningsvåg
Finnmark
Kp 0 Vardø
Finnmark
Kp 0 Lyngen Alps (Lyngseidet)
Troms
Where the aurora is easiest to see
| Place | Region | Kp needed | Kp for photos | Magnetic latitude |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tromsø | Troms | 0 | 0 | 67.2° |
| Bodø | Nordland | 0 | 0 | 64.9° |
| Harstad | Troms | 0 | 0 | 66.4° |
| Mo i Rana | Nordland | 0 | 0 | 63.9° |
| Tromsdalen | Troms | 0 | 0 | 67.2° |
| Alta | Finnmark | 0 | 0 | 67.4° |
| Narvik | Nordland | 0 | 0 | 66.0° |
| Lenvika | Troms | 0 | 0 | 67.0° |
Largest cities
| Place | Population | Kp needed |
|---|---|---|
| Oslo | 1,082,575 | 2.7 |
| Bergen | 294,029 | 2.7 |
| Trondheim | 216,518 | 0.7 |
| Stavanger | 151,669 | 3 |
| Kristiansand | 117,237 | 3.7 |
| Drammen | 106,013 | 3.3 |
| Lillestrøm | 89,684 | 2.7 |
| Sandnes | 85,386 | 3.3 |
Live sightings
Where visitors are reporting the aurora right now. A place climbs with every report and drops again as the reports age.
- …
Latest reports
Live webcams in Norway
Check the sky for yourself with these public cameras. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Tromsø (Ramfjordmoen) all-sky camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Skibotn all-sky camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Skibotn colour all-sky camera (BACC #5) (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Andøya (ALOMAR) all-sky camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Skarsvåg, North Cape (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Honningsvåg (North Cape) (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Hammerfest harbour (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Skjervøy harbour (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.
Regions of Norway
Practical information for Norway
- Emergency number
- 112 (police), 113 (ambulance), 110 (fire)
- Access to land
- Allemannsretten gives free access to uncultivated land (utmark) such as forest, mountain and shoreline; cultivated land and yards (innmark) need the owner's consent. Overnight stays, including tents, motorhomes and vans, must be more than 150 m from an inhabited house or cabin, and you may stay at most two nights in one spot without permission.
- Winter driving
- Winter tyres need at least 3 mm of tread from 1 November to the first Sunday after Easter Monday (16 October to 30 April in Nordland, Troms and Finnmark). Studded tyres are allowed in the same periods and outside them when conditions require. Road conditions are on Statens vegvesen's traffic information service (vegvesen.no/trafikk). Road conditions
- Drones
- Anyone flying a drone that has a camera or weighs over 250 g must register at flydrone.no and pass the free online course. Flights must stay below 120 m above the nearest ground, within line of sight and outside airport safety zones. National authority: https://luftfartstilsynet.no/en/drones/
- Official space-weather service
- Norwegian Centre for Space Weather (NOSWE), Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, UiT
- Weather service
- Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Yr)
- Certified dark-sky places
- Øvre Pasvik National Park
Øvre Pasvik National Park in Finnmark became Norway's first DarkSky International certified place in 2024 and is described as the northernmost International Dark Sky Place.
NOSWE at UiT is Norway's ISES Regional Space Weather Warning Centre. It publishes aurora nowcasts plus 1-hour and 4-hour forecasts for Svalbard, Tromsø, Trondheim, Bergen and Oslo, and runs an all-sky camera at Skibotn.
Compiled from official government, road-authority and weather-service sources. Rules change; check them before you travel.
Questions and answers
Can you see the northern lights in Norway?
Parts of Norway lie right under the auroral oval: near Tromsø the aurora can appear on almost any clear, dark night.
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Norway?
Near Tromsø about Kp 0 is enough. In Oslo, the largest city, you need about Kp 2.7.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Norway?
Near Tromsø, September has historically been the best month (20% of nights were clear, dark and active enough), followed by October (19%).
When was the aurora last visible in Norway?
Near Tromsø the aurora is a regular sight on clear, dark nights. The most recent strong geomagnetic storm there in the dark was on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0), one of 737 storm nights since 1995.