AuroraMeteo
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Updated 17:07 UTC

Northern lights tonight

Unsettled: up to Kp 3.0 in the next 24 hours. The aurora can be seen by eye from 1,235 towns in 11 countries tonight, and caught on camera from 880 more — if the sky is clear.

Visible by eye tonight

Only in photos tonight

Here the aurora stays low on the horizon: a phone in night mode or a camera picks up a red or green glow that the eye barely sees.

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.

  1. Kp 0–2 Quiet Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
  2. Kp 3 Unsettled next 24 h Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
  3. Kp 4 Active Overhead in the Arctic; low in the north from southern Norway, Sweden, Finland and northern Scotland.
  4. Kp 5 Minor storm (G1) Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
  5. Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) Northern England, Denmark, northern Germany and Poland, the US Midwest — often clearer in photos than to the eye.
  6. Kp 7 Strong storm (G3) Most of the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Czechia; red glow in photos from France and the northern Alps.
  7. 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.
  8. 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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    Questions and answers

    Can I see the northern lights tonight?

    It depends on three things: enough geomagnetic activity (Kp) for where you are, a clear sky and real darkness. Find your town above or tap "Use my location" — its page answers all three for tonight.

    What time are the northern lights visible tonight?

    Usually between about 22:00 and 02:00 local time, around magnetic midnight. In strong storms the aurora can appear right after dusk; each town page shows its best hour tonight.

    Which way should I look?

    Towards the pole: north in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern. Under the auroral oval it can be overhead; far from it, look low over the horizon and use your phone camera.

    Full forecast: Kp, solar wind and the next 27 nights · Storm archive