Scotland, United KingdomMagnetic latitude 56.6°Population 2,4907 m above sea level
Northern lights in Stromness
From Stromness the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Right now
It is still light here. Darkness starts at 19:23.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 0.7.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Maybe — worth a look
- Solar activity Strong enough: Kp 4.7 expected, 3 needed here.
- Sky Partly cloudy (73% cloud) — look for gaps.
- Darkness Dark from 19:23 to 06:33.
What to do: Go somewhere dark around 19:00, give your eyes 15 minutes to adjust and look north, low over the horizon.
Monday 19 October — Possible · Kp 4.7 · best around 20:30 · Forecast cloud: 73%. · 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 09:18 local time
Excellent chance
Best around 19:00. Forecast max Kp 4.7 (this place needs 3), average cloud 73%.
- Dark enough
- 19:23 – 06:33
- Sunset
- 17:55 · sunrise 08:01
- Moon
- 57% · ↑ 16:32 · ↓ 23:52
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 3
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 1.3 (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 | Mon, 19 | Mon, 22 | Tue, 01 | Tue, 04 | Tue, 19 | Tue, 22 | Wed, 01 | Wed, 04 | Wed, 19 | Wed, 22 | Thu, 01 | Thu, 04 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 10% | 24% | 44% | 9% | 18% | 27% | 27% | 49% | 49% | 47% | 35% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 35% | 70% | 100% | 100% | 59% | 50% | 52% | 82% |
| High cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 53% | 62% | 67% | 76% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| Temperature | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C |
| Feels like | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 12 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 11 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 6 °C | 6 °C |
| Wind | 10 m/s | 11 m/s | 11 m/s | 12 m/s | 14 m/s | 13 m/s | 12 m/s | 12 m/s | 9 m/s | 11 m/s | 12 m/s | 12 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 Stromness
The aurora only shows through clear skies, so the weather matters as much as the Kp index. Here is the general forecast for Stromness: temperature, wind and the chance of rain for the coming days.
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Live webcams near Stromness
Check the sky for yourself: public cameras within 300 km. They open on the camera owner's website.
- Sumburgh Head AuroraCam (Cliff Cam 3) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Kirkabister Ness, Bressay ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Lerwick harbour (north) ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
- Aberdeenshire all-sky & aurora cams ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) All-sky
- Eshaness Lighthouse ↗ Open the live camera (opens in a new tab) Scenic
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 Stromness
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 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 6° | 14° | 656 km |
| 3 | Visible to the north | 12° | 22° | 434 km |
| 4 | Visible to the north | 25° | 42° | 211 km |
| 5 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 6 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 camera in Stromness Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled eye in Stromness 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) 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 terrain rises to about 4° above the horizon towards the north. That hides low aurora: here you need about Kp 3 instead of Kp 3. 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 Stromness
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (7% of nights), followed by April (6%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 7% | 16% | 7.9 h | 11° / 14°C |
| October | 3% | 10% | 10.8 h | 10° / 12°C |
| November | 3% | 5% | 12.8 h | 8° / 9°C |
| December | 1% | 4% | 14.0 h | 6° / 8°C |
| January | 1% | 4% | 13.3 h | 5° / 7°C |
| February | 3% | 7% | 11.5 h | 5° / 7°C |
| March | 4% | 10% | 9.1 h | 5° / 7°C |
| April | 6% | 16% | 5.8 h | 6° / 9°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 14 May to 29 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 Stromness 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
- 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
- 3 March 2026 · Kp 5.0
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Kirkwall Airport (KOI) · 22 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 11° / 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 Stromness?
From Stromness the aurora is visible on most active nights — first low to the north, from about Kp 3.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Stromness?
Face north (about 354° from true north). At Kp 3 the lower edge of the aurora sits roughly 12° above the horizon; stronger activity lifts it higher and further across the sky.
What is the best month to see the aurora in Stromness?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Stromness (7% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by April (6%).
When is the aurora season in Stromness?
From 14 May to 29 July the sky in Stromness never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Stromness?
Noticeable sky glow. Bright displays are visible, but driving out of town makes a clear difference.
When was the aurora last possible in Stromness?
Activity last reached storm level (Kp 5 or more) during darkness in Stromness on 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0) — 894 such nights since 1995. Here the aurora also appears on many quieter nights.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Stromness share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- Navershaw 1 km
- Innertown 2 km
- Outertown 3 km
- Clouston 4 km
- Stenness 6 km
- Voy 6 km
- Quoyness 7 km
- Hestwall 7 km
- Houton 8 km
- Rackwick 11 km
- Scarwell 12 km
- Skeabrae 12 km