Northern Ireland, United KingdomMagnetic latitude 51.2°Population 2,499113 m above sea level
Can you see the northern lights in Castlewellan?
From Castlewellan the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 5.7 or more), usually as a glow low in the north. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does. Since 1995 that level (Kp 5.7) was reached during darkness here on 330 nights.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:28.
Updates every minute while this page is open.
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 2.7 expected, 5.7 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (100% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:28 to 06:49. A bright moon (84%) washes out faint displays.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Saturday 24 October — Photos only · Kp 4.3 · best around 20:30 · Forecast cloud: 31%. · 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 12:12 local time
Unlikely
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 2.7 (this place needs 5.7), average cloud 100%.
- Dark enough
- 19:28 – 06:49
- Sunset
- 18:10 · sunrise 08:07
- Moon
- 84% · ↑ 16:47 · ↓ 04:30
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 5.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 4 (a red glow low in the north).
- Look towards
- north (354°)
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 | Thu, 19 | Thu, 22 | Fri, 01 | Fri, 04 | Fri, 19 | Fri, 22 | Sat, 01 | Sat, 04 | Sat, 19 | Sat, 22 | Sun, 01 | Sun, 03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 12% | 20% | 34% | 56% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 22% | 44% | 61% | 84% | 82% |
| Mid cloud | 91% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 44% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 11% | 25% | 14% |
| High cloud | 100% | 100% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 50% | 100% | 100% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 6 °C | 7 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 6 °C | 5 °C | 6 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C |
| Feels like | 5 °C | 5 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 3 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C | 4 °C | 5 °C | 5 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 3 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 5 m/s | 3 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 10 m/s | 10 m/s | 10 m/s | 9 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 Castlewellan
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Castlewellan: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
Planning further ahead? See the hour-by-hour weather forecast for Castlewellan on Atlas of Seasons.
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Live webcams near Castlewellan
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
These cameras belong to their owners — we only link to them. Most show little in daylight or under cloud, and some pause in summer.
What you would see from Castlewellan
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 | -1° | 3° | 1,257 km |
| 3 | Below the horizon | 1° | 6° | 1,034 km |
| 4 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 4° | 10° | 812 km |
| 5 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 7° | 16° | 589 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 14° | 27° | 367 km |
| 7 | Visible to the north | 35° | 53° | 145 km |
| 8 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 9 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
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 next 24 h Bright in the Arctic; low on the horizon in central Scandinavia and southern Iceland.
- Kp 4 Active camera in Castlewellan 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) eye in Castlewellan 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
Dark rural sky. Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted.
A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south. Open in OpenStreetMap
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 terrain rises to about 4° above the horizon towards the north. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 5.7 instead of Kp 5.7. A hilltop, shore or open field with a clear view to the north helps.
From elevation data (AWS Terrain Tiles) along seven lines of sight up to 30 km.
Best months to see the aurora in Castlewellan
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
May has been the best month (1% of nights), followed by September (1%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 0.8% | 35% | 8.4 h | 11° / 16°C |
| October | 0.5% | 27% | 10.8 h | 9° / 13°C |
| November | 0.6% | 24% | 12.5 h | 6° / 10°C |
| December | 0.2% | 18% | 13.5 h | 5° / 8°C |
| January | 0% | 18% | 13.0 h | 4° / 7°C |
| February | 0.3% | 19% | 11.4 h | 4° / 8°C |
| March | 0.5% | 30% | 9.5 h | 4° / 9°C |
| April | 0.6% | 41% | 6.8 h | 6° / 11°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 10 June to 3 July — the sky stays too bright for most auroras.
- Next new moon 9 November, next full moon 26 October. The darkest skies are in the week around new moon.
Aurora nights in Castlewellan since 1995
Nights when Kp reached 5.7 or more while it was dark here.
Most recent strong nights
- 10 October 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 4 October 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 15 May 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 3 April 2026 · Kp 5.7
- 22 March 2026 · Kp 6.7
- 20 March 2026 · Kp 7.0
- 13 March 2026 · Kp 6.0
- 16 February 2026 · Kp 5.7
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Belfast International Airport (BFS) · 48 km
- Typical low / high in May
- 8° / 14°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 Castlewellan?
From Castlewellan the aurora is seen only during geomagnetic storms (about Kp 5.7 or more), usually as a glow low in the north. Cameras often pick it up before the eye does.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Castlewellan?
Face north (about 354° from true north). At Kp 5.7 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 14° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Castlewellan?
Over 2005–2025, May gave the best odds in Castlewellan (1% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by September (1%).
When is the aurora season in Castlewellan?
From 10 June to 3 July the sky in Castlewellan never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Castlewellan?
Little artificial light. Faint displays are visible once your eyes have adapted. A noticeably darker area starts about 5 km to the south.
When was the aurora last possible in Castlewellan?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Castlewellan needs, during darkness, was 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0). It has happened on 330 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Castlewellan share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Bryansford 3 km
- Square 7 km
- Kilcoo 7 km
- Ballyward 7 km