Portugal12 places
Northern Lights in Portugal: Where and When to See Them
From Portugal the aurora is mostly a camera sight: in severe storms (about Kp 8 or more) a red glow rises low over the horizon, as it did in May and October 2024.
Storm watch: can you see the northern lights from Portugal?
Rarely, but yes. In strong storms (about Kp 8 or more) the red upper layer of the aurora, 300–400 km up, rises above the northern horizon of Portugal. Phone and camera sensors pick it up far more easily than the eye.
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| Place | Kp for photos | Kp for the eye | Photo nights since 1995 | Last time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bragança | 8 | 9+ | 27 | Jan 2026 |
| Braga | 8.3 | 9+ | 19 | Jan 2026 |
| Viana do Castelo | 8.3 | 9+ | 19 | Jan 2026 |
| Vila Real | 8.3 | 9+ | 19 | Jan 2026 |
| Porto | 8.7 | 9+ | 14 | Jan 2026 |
| Coimbra | 9 | 9+ | 2 | May 2024 |
| Viseu | 9 | 9+ | 2 | May 2024 |
| Aveiro | 9 | 9+ | 2 | May 2024 |
| Guarda | 9 | 9+ | 2 | May 2024 |
When it was last seen from Portugal
Nights with enough activity for photos from Bragança during darkness (Kp 8 or more):
- 19 January 2026 · Kp 8.7
- 11 November 2025 · Kp 8.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 8.7
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 9.0
- 23 April 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 23 March 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 7 September 2017 · Kp 8.0
- 14 December 2006 · Kp 8.3
- 21 January 2005 · Kp 8.0
- 9 November 2004 · Kp 8.7
How to catch it from Portugal
- Watch the forecast: you need about Kp 8 or more — a strong to severe storm. These arrive a day or two after a big eruption on the Sun, so there is usually some warning.
- Get away from city lights and find an open view to the north: a coast, a hill or a field. The glow sits low over the horizon.
- Use your phone's night mode or a camera on a tripod (3–15 s). Check the photo: a red or pink sky to the north is the aurora.
- The best hours are usually 22:00–02:00 local time, but in big storms it can start right after dusk.
- Kp 0–2 Quiet 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) 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) camera in Bragança 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).
Live sightings
Where visitors are reporting the aurora right now. A place climbs with every report and drops again as the reports age.
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