Norrbotten County, SwedenMagnetic latitude 65.3°454 m above sea level
Northern lights in Kiruna
Kiruna 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
The aurora may be in view right now — go outside and look north!
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 3 expected, 0 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (48% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:02 to 05:47.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 04:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
- Detailed forecast Fri 16 3 Good chance · Kp 3
- Sat 17 1.7 Good chance · Kp 1.7
- Sun 18 1.7 Good chance · Kp 1.7
- 27-day trend Mon 19 2 Possible · Kp 2
- Tue 20 3 Good chance · Kp 3
- Wed 21 4 Possible · 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
Friday 16 October — Good chance · Kp 3 · best around 19:00 · Forecast cloud: 52%. · 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 19:10 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 04:00. Forecast max Kp 3.0 (this place needs 0), average cloud 48%.
- Dark enough
- 19:02 – 05:47
- Sunset
- 17:01 · sunrise 07:49
- Moon
- 32%
- 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: 52% here. The clearest option within 100 km is about 100 km to the east, with 7%. 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 Kiruna
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 | 37° | 55° | 133 km |
| 2 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 Kiruna 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
Suburban sky. Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
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 Kiruna
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
March has been the best month (43% of nights), followed by September (35%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 35% | 35% | 6.0 h | 2° / 8°C |
| October | 26% | 26% | 10.4 h | -5° / 0°C |
| November | 29% | 29% | 13.8 h | -11° / -6°C |
| December | 23% | 23% | 15.3 h | -14° / -8°C |
| January | 31% | 31% | 14.5 h | -16° / -10°C |
| February | 31% | 31% | 11.5 h | -16° / -9°C |
| March | 43% | 43% | 8.0 h | -13° / -5°C |
| April | 16% | 43% | 1.6 h | -8° / -1°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 15 April to 28 August — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Midnight sun from 27 May to 17 July.
- Polar night from 10 December to 1 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 Kiruna 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 Kiruna
-
Luossavaara
The official tourism site recommends this city mountain, and walking a little past the hill and car park gives the best view. · about 6 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Camp Ripan
An in-town option whose street lamps are angled downward so the sky stays more visible. · about 5 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Kurravaara
A small village on the Torne River about 12 km north of Kiruna, away from most of the town's light. · about 14 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Torne River at Jukkasjärvi (Icehotel)
Guides list the Torne River valley and Jukkasjärvi among the darker places to watch near Kiruna. · about 14 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
-
Aurora Sky Station, Abisko
The best-known aurora site in Swedish Lapland, about an hour's drive northwest, with low light pollution and a chairlift up Mount Nuolja. · about 100 km · Open in OpenStreetMap
Local knowledge
- Visit Kiruna gives the aurora season as roughly late August to April, with September, October and March usually the strongest months.
- In Scandinavia the most active displays usually come between 9 and 11 pm, and the most intense part often lasts under ten minutes, so start looking as soon as it is dark.
- Kiruna Airport is about 8 km by road from town, with a few flights a day to Stockholm, either direct or via Luleå or Umeå.
- Polar night lasts roughly from 11 December to 1 January, and January lows at the airport average about −17 °C.
- The town centre is moving about 3 km east because of subsidence from LKAB's Kirunavaara iron mine, and Kiruna Church was moved whole in August 2025.
- The IRF all-sky camera just outside the centre updates about once a minute, so you can check activity before going out.
Subarctic weather can change quickly from clear skies to snowfall, so check the forecast and dress in layers.
Cold drains phone and camera batteries fast; bring a power bank, and wear reflectors when walking on roads in the dark.
Practical information
- Typical low / high in March
- -13° / -5°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 Kiruna?
Kiruna 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 Kiruna?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 0 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 37° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Kiruna?
Over 2005–2025, March gave the best odds in Kiruna (43% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (35%).
When is the aurora season in Kiruna?
From 15 April to 28 August the sky in Kiruna never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Kiruna?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
When was the aurora last possible in Kiruna?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Kiruna on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 768 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Kiruna share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Tuolluvaara 1 km
- Kirunavaara 6 km
- Kurravaara 11 km
- Krokvik 13 km
- Kalixfors 14 km
- Kaalasluspa 16 km
- Vuonajokka 17 km
- Jukkasjärvi socken 20 km
- Holmajärvi 22 km
- Rautas 23 km
- Aitejokk 25 km
- Sjisjka 26 km
- Rensjön 31 km
- Kaitum 34 km
- Killingi 35 km
- Killinki 37 km
- Lopasjärvi 40 km
- Bergfors 40 km