England, United KingdomMagnetic latitude 47.0°Population 11,69452 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Blandford Forum?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 7.7 or more) bring the aurora into view from Blandford Forum — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north. Since 1995 that level (Kp 7.7) was reached during darkness here on 34 nights.
Right now
Quiet right now (Kp 3.3).
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 4.7 expected, 7.7 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (48% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:15 to 06:31. A bright moon (79%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Wednesday 21 October — No · Kp 4.7 · Forecast cloud: 48%. · 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 20:25 local time
Unlikely
Best around 20:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 7.7), average cloud 48%.
- Dark enough
- 19:15 – 06:31
- Sunset
- 18:04 · sunrise 07:43
- Moon
- 79% · ↑ 16:16 · ↓ 02:59
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 7.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 6 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (356°)
Cloud layers and weather
Low cloud blocks the aurora completely. Thin high cloud often still lets a bright aurora shine through, so a sky with only high cloud is worth a look.
| Time | Wed, 20 | Wed, 23 | Thu, 02 | Thu, 05 | Thu, 20 | Thu, 23 | Fri, 02 | Fri, 05 | Fri, 20 | Fri, 23 | Sat, 02 | Sat, 05 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 15% | 48% | 57% | 26% | 79% | 48% | 34% | 54% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 7% |
| Mid cloud | 22% | 69% | 77% | 26% | 93% | 31% | 0% | 16% | 1% | 6% | 28% | 76% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 10% | 4% | 0% | 0% | 12% | 70% | 100% | 100% |
| Temperature | 10 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 9 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C |
| Feels like | 7 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 7 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 13 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 8 °C |
| Wind | 6 m/s | 8 m/s | 8 m/s | 6 m/s | 7 m/s | 9 m/s | 8 m/s | 3 m/s | 6 m/s | 4 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s |
Cloud layers and weather: Open-Meteo (CC BY 4.0).
Score = activity (NOAA Kp and OVATION) × clear sky (MET Norway) × darkness × moonlight. Methodology
Weather in Blandford Forum
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Blandford Forum: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Blandford Forum on Atlas of Seasons.
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What you would see from Blandford Forum
Facing north. Bands show where the aurora sits at two activity levels.
| Kp | What you see | Lower edge | Ray tops | Distance to the aurora |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Below the horizon | -4° | -1° | 1,724 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | -3° | 1° | 1,501 km |
| 4 | Below the horizon | -1° | 3° | 1,279 km |
| 5 | Below the horizon | 1° | 6° | 1,056 km |
| 6 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 3° | 10° | 834 km |
| 7 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 7° | 15° | 612 km |
| 8 | Visible to the north | 13° | 25° | 389 km |
| 9 | Visible to the north | 31° | 49° | 167 km |
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 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) next 24 h Scotland, southern Scandinavia, the Baltic states, the northern US states and southern Canada.
- Kp 6 Moderate storm (G2) camera in Blandford Forum 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) eye in Blandford Forum 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
Terrain is not modelled for this place.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Blandford Forum
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
Activity of Kp 7.7 or more is too rare here for monthly odds to be meaningful. The table still shows how often nights are clear and dark.
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 0% | 58% | 8.9 h | 11° / 20°C |
| October | 0% | 47% | 10.8 h | 8° / 16°C |
| November | 0% | 41% | 12.5 h | 5° / 11°C |
| December | 0% | 35% | 13.1 h | 3° / 8°C |
| January | 0% | 38% | 12.8 h | 2° / 7°C |
| February | 0% | 42% | 11.4 h | 2° / 8°C |
| March | 0.3% | 48% | 9.5 h | 3° / 10°C |
| April | 0% | 59% | 7.3 h | 4° / 13°C |
Aurora nights in Blandford Forum since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 7.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 20 January 2026 · Kp 7.7
- 19 January 2026 · Kp 8.7
- 11 November 2025 · Kp 8.7
- 10 October 2024 · Kp 8.7
- 11 May 2024 · Kp 7.7
- 10 May 2024 · Kp 9.0
- 23 March 2023 · Kp 8.0
- 7 September 2017 · Kp 8.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Bournemouth Airport (BOH) · 24 km
Bristol Airport (BRS) · 70 km - Typical low / high in March
- 3° / 10°C
- What to wear
- Cool nights: layers, a windproof jacket, hat and gloves for standing still outside. Full clothing guide
- Emergency number
- 999 / 112
- Winter driving
- Winter tyres are not legally required anywhere in the UK (minimum tread 1.6 mm); check Traffic Scotland (trafficscotland.org) for Scottish trunk roads and National Highways for England's motorways and major A-roads. Road conditions
- Access to land
- In Scotland the Scottish Outdoor Access Code gives access rights over most land and inland water at any time of day or night (including responsible wild camping), provided you act responsibly and keep away from buildings; in England and Wales the CRoW Act right of access covers only mapped open access land, on foot, and excludes camping and driving unless the landowner allows it.
- Official space-weather service
- Met Office Space Weather (incl. aurora forecast)
- Weather service
- Met Office
Questions and answers
What Kp do you need to see the aurora in Blandford Forum?
Only severe geomagnetic storms (Kp 7.7 or more) bring the aurora into view from Blandford Forum — a few nights per solar cycle, low in the north.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Blandford Forum?
Face north (about 356° from true north). At Kp 7.7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 13° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
When is the aurora season in Blandford Forum?
Blandford Forum gets dark enough for the aurora all year round, though the long winter nights give the most hours to watch.
Is there much light pollution in Blandford Forum?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
When was the aurora last possible in Blandford Forum?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Blandford Forum needs, during darkness, was 20 January 2026 (Kp 7.7). It has happened on 34 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Blandford Forum share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Bryanston 2 km
- Langton Long Blandford 2 km
- Langton Long Blandford 2 km
- Bryanston 2 km
- Newtown 2 km
- Littleton 2 km
- Lower Blandford St Mary 2 km
- Pimperne 3 km
- Durweston 3 km
- Charlton Marshall 3 km
- Pimperne 3 km
- Blandford St. Mary 3 km
- Birch Close 3 km
- Charlton on the Hill 3 km
- Shothole 3 km
- Tarrant Keynston 4 km
- Stourpaine 4 km
- Tarrant Keyneston 4 km
- Durweston 4 km
- Charlton Marshall 4 km
- Stourpaine 4 km
- Ash 4 km
- West End 4 km
- Thornicombe 4 km
- Tarrant Rushton 5 km
- Spetisbury 5 km
- Iwerne Stepleton 5 km
- Spetisbury 5 km
- Tarrant Crawford 5 km
- Tarrant Rawston 5 km
- The Folly 5 km
- Steepleton Iwerne 5 km
- Winterborne Stickland 6 km
- Tarrant Monkton 6 km
- Hanford 6 km
- Tarrant Launceston 6 km
- Winterborne Clenston 6 km
- Winterborne Stickland 6 km
- Tarrant Monkton 6 km
- Tarrant Launceston 6 km