Scotland, United KingdomMagnetic latitude 53.1°Population 1,13011 m above sea level
Northern lights in Tarbert
Tarbert needs an active night: from about Kp 4.7 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows. Since 1995 that level (Kp 4.7) was reached during darkness here on 983 nights.
Right now
Activity is high enough for a camera right now: point your phone north, low over the horizon.
Latest measured half-hour activity worldwide: Hp30 2.3.
Updates every minute while this page is open. Ground data: GFZ Potsdam Hp30 index (CC BY 4.0).
Tonight in one minute
Not tonight
- Solar activity Too weak: Kp 1.7 expected, 4.7 needed here.
- Sky Overcast (75% cloud).
- Darkness Dark from 19:34 to 06:39.
What to do: Not tonight — your next chance is shown just below.
Tuesday 20 October — Possible · Kp 5 · best around 05:30 · Forecast cloud: 75%. · 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 06:55 local time
Unlikely
Best around 06:00. Forecast max Kp 1.7 (this place needs 4.7), average cloud 75%.
- Dark enough
- 19:34 – 06:39
- Sunset
- 18:13 · sunrise 08:00
- Moon
- 46% · ↑ 16:06 · ↓ 22:59
- Kp neededKp index: a 0–9 measure of geomagnetic activity. The higher it is, the further from the poles the aurora reaches.
- Kp 4.7
- Kp for photos
- In photos: from Kp 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 | Sun, 06 | Sun, 21 | Mon, 00 | Mon, 03 | Mon, 06 | Mon, 21 | Tue, 00 | Tue, 03 | Tue, 06 | Tue, 21 | Wed, 00 | Wed, 03 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Low cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 1% | 3% | 58% | 61% | 76% | 96% | 73% | 74% | 67% |
| Mid cloud | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 11% | 34% | 100% | 93% | 59% |
| High cloud | 1% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 29% | 87% | 49% | 23% |
| Temperature | 3 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 10 °C | 10 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 7 °C |
| Feels like | 3 °C | 4 °C | 4 °C | 3 °C | 2 °C | 8 °C | 8 °C | 9 °C | 9 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C | 7 °C |
| Wind | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 1 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 2 m/s | 1 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
Seeing it right now?
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Live webcams near Tarbert
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 Tarbert
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° | 6° | 1,045 km |
| 3 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 4° | 10° | 823 km |
| 4 | Faint glow, mostly on camera | 7° | 15° | 600 km |
| 5 | Visible to the north | 14° | 26° | 378 km |
| 6 | Visible to the north | 33° | 51° | 156 km |
| 7 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 8 | Overhead and all around | – | – | – |
| 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 next 24 h Only under the auroral oval: northern Norway, Swedish and Finnish Lapland, Iceland, Alaska, northern Canada.
- Kp 3 Unsettled camera in Tarbert 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) eye in Tarbert 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
Pristine dark sky. Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
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 Tarbert
Share of nights 2005–2025 that were dark, active enough here and mostly clear.
September has been the best month (3% of nights), followed by March (3%).
| Month | Good nights | Clear nights | Darkness | Low / high |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| September | 3% | 35% | 8.4 h | 10° / 15°C |
| October | 3% | 33% | 10.8 h | 7° / 12°C |
| November | 2% | 30% | 12.6 h | 5° / 8°C |
| December | 0.8% | 26% | 13.6 h | 3° / 6°C |
| January | 1% | 23% | 13.1 h | 2° / 5°C |
| February | 2% | 25% | 11.4 h | 2° / 6°C |
| March | 3% | 33% | 9.4 h | 3° / 7°C |
| April | 3% | 43% | 6.5 h | 4° / 10°C |
Darkness through the year
- No full darkness (Sun 12° below the horizon) from 29 May to 15 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 Tarbert 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 July 2026 · Kp 5.3
- 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
Practical information
- Nearest airport
- Glasgow Airport (GLA) · 61 km
- Typical low / high in September
- 10° / 15°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 Tarbert?
Tarbert needs an active night: from about Kp 4.7 the aurora appears low over the north horizon, and it rises higher as activity grows.
Which way should I look for the aurora in Tarbert?
Face north (about 354° from true north). At Kp 4.7 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 Tarbert?
Over 2005–2025, September gave the best odds in Tarbert (3% of nights dark, active enough and mostly clear), followed by March (3%).
When is the aurora season in Tarbert?
From 29 May to 15 July the sky in Tarbert never gets dark enough. Outside that period the aurora can be seen whenever activity and clouds allow.
Is there much light pollution in Tarbert?
Almost no artificial light: faint aurora and the Milky Way are easy to see.
When was the aurora last possible in Tarbert?
The most recent night in our data when activity reached the level Tarbert needs, during darkness, was 10 October 2026 (Kp 7.0). It has happened on 983 nights since 1995.
Also covered by this forecast
Villages and districts around Tarbert share its forecast: within a few kilometres the sky, the Kp needed and the best direction are the same.
- West Tarbert 2 km
- Stonefield 3 km
- Rhu 6 km
- Portavadie 7 km
- Erines 7 km
- Pollphail Village 7 km
- Torinturk 7 km
- Kennacraig 8 km
- Millhouse 9 km
- Melldalloch 9 km
- Whitehouse 10 km
- Kames 10 km
- Glenreasdell 11 km
- Gartnagrenach 11 km
- Acharosson 11 km
- Skipness 12 km
- Claonaig 12 km
- Baile Boidheach 13 km
- Oragaig 14 km
- Ellary 14 km
- Ballure 14 km
- Cretshengan 15 km
- Portachoillan 15 km
- Clachan 16 km
- Clachan 17 km
- Kilmory 17 km
- South Crossaig 18 km
- Ronachan 18 km
- North Crossaig 18 km
- Crossaig 18 km
- Cour 18 km
- Ballochroy 22 km
- Rhunahaorine 25 km
- Gortinanane 26 km
- Tarbert 27 km
- Ardminish 29 km