Finnmark, NorwayMagnetic latitude 67.6°Population 1,87530 m above sea level
Northern lights in Vardø
Vardø sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 18:22.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Yes — good chance tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Mostly clear (21% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 18:22 to 05:01.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 23:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 2.7 Good chance · Kp 2.7
- Sat 17 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- Sun 18 1.7 Possible · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Good chance · Kp 4
- Thu 22 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Fri 23 4 Possible · Kp 4
- Sat 24 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sun 25 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Mon 26 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 27 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Wed 28 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Thu 29 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Fri 30 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Sat 31 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Sun 1 5 Possible · Kp 5
- Mon 2 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Tue 3 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Wed 4 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Thu 5 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Fri 6 3 Possible · Kp 3
- Sat 7 3 Possible · Kp 3
Saturday 17 October — Good chance · Kp 2.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 18%. · 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 15:42 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 23:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 21%.
- Dark enough
- 18:22 – 05:01
- Sunset
- 16:06 · sunrise 07:18
- Moon
- 31%
- 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 (356°)
Clearer skies nearby tonight
Tonight's cloud forecast is similar in every direction within 100 km (18% here), so driving is unlikely to help.
MET Norway forecast at 24 points within 100 km, averaged over the dark hours. Check roads and conditions before driving.
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
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What you would see from Vardø
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 2 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 3 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 4 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 5 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 7 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead, and also to the south | – | – | – |
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 Vardø Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h 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) 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
Rural to suburban. Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
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 is open (terrain below 0.9°), 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 Vardø
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (24% of nights), followed by March (18%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 24% | 27% | 4.9 h | 7° / 9°C |
| October | 13% | 13% | 10.3 h | 3° / 5°C |
| November | 13% | 13% | 14.0 h | -1° / 2°C |
| December | 15% | 15% | 16.1 h | -3° / -1°C |
| January | 14% | 14% | 15.0 h | -5° / -2°C |
| February | 11% | 11% | 11.6 h | -5° / -2°C |
| March | 18% | 18% | 7.3 h | -4° / -1°C |
| April | 5% | 20% | – | -1° / 1°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 8 April to 3 September — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 15 May to 29 July.
- Polar night from 23 November to 18 January: the sun stays below the horizon, giving the longest viewing windows.
- Next new moon 9 November, next full moon 26 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Vardø since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.3
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 3 April 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 2 April 2026 · Kp 5.0
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
Where to watch near Vardø
-
Steilneset Memorial
A Scenic Route rest area on the north shore, facing the open Barents Sea. · about 1 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Vardøhus Fortress
A historic star fortress whose ramparts make a striking aurora foreground. · about 1 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Domen viewpoint
A Scenic Route viewpoint on the mainland above Vardø, with wide views across the sea. · about 8 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Vardø is Norway's and the Nordic countries' easternmost town, on an island in the Barents Sea with open horizons in every direction.
- It was formerly the only town in mainland Norway with a polar (tundra) climate; it is now classed as subarctic, with a raw, windy maritime climate.
- The town is reached via the undersea Vardø Tunnel on the E75, and Vardø Airport, Svartnes, is on the mainland at the other end of the tunnel.
- Vardø lies on the 160 km National Scenic Route Varanger, whose rest areas include Steilneset and the Domen viewpoint.
- The Steilneset Memorial by Peter Zumthor and Louise Bourgeois (2011) commemorates the 91 people executed for witchcraft in 1621.
The road between Smelror and Hamningberg is closed in winter, roughly from November or December until April or May.
Storms are frequent, so check road and ferry/flight status and dress for strong wind chill.
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Vardø Airport, Svartnes (VAW) · 3 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 7° / 9°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112 (police), 113 (ambulance), 110 (fire)
- 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
- 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.
- Official space-weather service
- Norwegian Centre for Space Weather (NOSWE), Tromsø Geophysical Observatory, UiT
- Weather service
- Norwegian Meteorological Institute (Yr)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Vardø?
Vardø sits right under the auroral oval: on clear, dark nights the aurora is often overhead, even when activity is quiet. Clouds matter far more than the Kp number here.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Vardø?
Around Vardø the aurora is often right overhead. Start by facing north, but look up and all around — in strong storms it can fill the whole sky and even appear behind you.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Vardø?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Vardø (24% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (18%).
When is the aurora season in Vardø?
From 8 April to 3 September the sky in Vardø never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Vardø?
Some sky glow from nearby lights. Moderate displays are fine; faint ones are easier a few kilometres out.
When was the aurora last possible in Vardø?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Vardø on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.3) — 734 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Vardø share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Vardø kommune 0 km
- Østervågen 0 km
- Vestervågen 1 km
- Svartnes 3 km
- Smellror 4 km
- Kiberg 10 km
- Indre Kiberg 12 km
- Kramvik 15 km
- Vesterelva 16 km
- Langbunes 20 km
- Komagvær 26 km