Norrbotten County, SwedenMagnetic latitude 65.8°377 m above sea level
Northern lights in Abisko
Abisko 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 19:08.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 2.7 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (89% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:08 to 05:53.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 2.7 Possible · 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
Monday 19 October — Possible · Kp 1.7 · best around 00:30 · Forecast cloud: 70%. · Reliability: medium
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
Possible
Best around 05:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 0), average cloud 89%.
- Dark enough
- 19:08 – 05:53
- Sunset
- 17:05 · sunrise 07:57
- 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
Forecast cloud during tonight's darkness: 89% here. The clearest option within 100 km is about 100 km to the south-east, near Jukkasjärvi, with 37%. Open in OpenStreetMap
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
Seeing it right now?
Tell others in Norrbotten County. Reports from real visitors move a place up the live ranking.
Reports are anonymous: we do not store your IP address or location. One report per place every few hours.
What you would see from Abisko
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 | Visible to the north | 53° | 68° | 78 km |
| 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 Abisko 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
Pristine dark sky. Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
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 2.3°), 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 Abisko
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
January has been the best month (34% of nights), followed by February (34%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 27% | 27% | 5.8 h | 2° / 7°C |
| October | 23% | 23% | 10.4 h | -5° / -1°C |
| November | 30% | 30% | 13.8 h | -11° / -6°C |
| December | 29% | 29% | 15.6 h | -13° / -9°C |
| January | 34% | 34% | 14.5 h | -15° / -10°C |
| February | 34% | 34% | 11.5 h | -15° / -10°C |
| March | 33% | 33% | 7.9 h | -13° / -6°C |
| April | 15% | 35% | 1.4 h | -9° / -2°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 13 April to 29 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 24 May to 19 July.
- Polar night from 5 December to 6 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 Abisko since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 4.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 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 Abisko
-
Aurora Sky Station (Nuolja)
A mountaintop station about 900 m up, reached by chairlift from near the Turiststation, high above valley fog and lights. · about 3 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Torneträsk shore
A flat lakeshore north of the village with a wide, open northern horizon over frozen Torneträsk. · about 3 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Abiskojåkka canyon
A river canyon viewpoint next to the Turiststation, offering dramatic foregrounds a short walk from the trains. · about 3 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Björkliden
A small mountain resort west of Abisko on the E10 with lake and mountain views. · about 11 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Abisko lies in the rain shadow of the Scandinavian Mountains and is one of the driest places in Sweden, so it often stays clear when the Norwegian coast is cloudy.
- STF Aurora Sky Station sits at about 900 m on Mount Nuolja and is reached by chairlift, offering night visits and northern lights dinners.
- Abisko Östra and Abisko Turiststation are on the Ore Line between Kiruna and Narvik; from Stockholm you travel by night train, usually changing in Boden or Luleå — check the SJ and Vy timetables. The E10 links Kiruna (about 100 km) and Narvik (about 80 km).
- Abisko National Park (established 1909) begins on the shore of the large lake Torneträsk, whose open, flat surface gives wide northern horizons.
- From Kiruna Airport, an airport bus runs directly to the STF mountain station.
Abisko National Park is protected by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency; stay on trails and follow park rules.
The canyon edges and lakeshore ice can be dangerous in the dark, so keep back from edges and do not walk on lake ice unless you know it is safe.
Practical information
- Typical low / high in January
- -15° / -10°C
- What to wear
- Arctic cold: wool base layers, insulated jacket and trousers, warm boots, hat and mittens. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 112
- Winter driving
- From 1 December to 31 March, cars must use winter tyres (Alpine-marked or studded) with at least 3 mm of tread whenever winter road conditions apply. Studded tyres are allowed from 1 October to 15 April, and at other times when winter conditions apply or are expected. Trafikverket runs the road traffic information service. Road conditions
- Access to land
- Allemansrätten lets anyone walk and stay temporarily on others' land, including pitching a tent for a night or two, provided you don't disturb and don't destroy. It does not cover gardens next to homes, crops or grazing land, or motorised off-road driving. National parks and nature reserves can have stricter rules.
- Official space-weather service
- Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF), Kiruna: all-sky camera and IRF Aurora Alert app
- Weather service
- SMHI (Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute)
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Abisko?
Abisko 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 Abisko?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 0 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 53° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Abisko?
Over 2005–2025, January gave the best odds in Abisko (34% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by February (34%).
When is the aurora season in Abisko?
From 13 April to 29 August the sky in Abisko never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Abisko?
Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
When was the aurora last possible in Abisko?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Abisko on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 757 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Abisko share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Björkliden Fjällby 8 km
- Björkliden 9 km
- Djupviken 14 km
- Rovvidievvá 19 km
- Låktatjåkka 22 km
- Riksgränsen 30 km
- Lapplandia 30 km
- Sjangeli 31 km