Northern lights in the United Kingdom
33,742 places in the United Kingdom have their own aurora page. At Kp 5 the lights reach the horizon in 22% of them; the lowest Kp needed is 1.4, in North Roe. The best months are March, September and October.
- Kp 0–2
- Kp 2–4
- Kp 4–6
- Kp 6–8
- Kp 8–9
Tonight's best places
Unlikely tonight.
Kp forecast for the next three days
Which Kp do you need?
- Kp 2quietLerwick, Scalloway, Quarff, Symbister, Sandwick, Brae
- Kp 3unsettledKirkwall, Thurso, Wick, Stornoway, Dornoch, Golspie
- Kp 4activeAberdeen, Dundee, Perth, Glenrothes, Elgin, Inverness
- Kp 5minor stormEdinburgh, Glasgow, Newcastle upon Tyne, Belfast, Gateshead, Durham
- Kp 6moderate stormManchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield, Bradford, Stoke-on-Trent
- Kp 7strong stormLondon, Birmingham, Cardiff, Leicester, Oxford, Wolverhampton
- Kp 8severe stormPortsmouth, Exeter, Brighton, Brighton and Hove, Winchester, Southampton
The best places
| Place | Kp needed | overhead | Nights a year | with a clear sky | Best month |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brae | Kp 1.6 | Kp 4.1 | 198 | 98 | October |
| Mossbank | Kp 1.6 | Kp 4.1 | 198 | 98 | October |
| Twatt | Kp 1.7 | Kp 4.2 | 198 | 97 | October |
| Symbister | Kp 1.6 | Kp 4.1 | 198 | 97 | October |
| Clate | Kp 1.6 | Kp 4.1 | 198 | 97 | October |
| North Roe | Kp 1.5 | Kp 4 | 198 | 97 | October |
| Heylor | Kp 1.5 | Kp 4 | 198 | 92 | October |
| Sumburgh | Kp 1.9 | Kp 4.4 | 181 | 90 | September |
| Toab | Kp 1.9 | Kp 4.4 | 181 | 90 | April |
| Bigton | Kp 1.8 | Kp 4.3 | 181 | 90 | April |
| Scatness | Kp 1.9 | Kp 4.4 | 181 | 90 | April |
| Quendale | Kp 1.9 | Kp 4.4 | 181 | 90 | April |
| Lerwick | Kp 1.7 | Kp 4.2 | 177 | 88 | April |
| Scalloway | Kp 1.7 | Kp 4.2 | 177 | 88 | April |
| Quarff | Kp 1.8 | Kp 4.3 | 177 | 86 | April |
| Sandwick | Kp 1.8 | Kp 4.3 | 177 | 83 | April |
| Stronsay | Kp 2.3 | Kp 4.8 | 157 | 80 | October |
| Pierowall | Kp 2.2 | Kp 4.7 | 157 | 79 | October |
| Reiss | Kp 2.7 | Kp 5.2 | 137 | 71 | October |
| Bowertower | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 71 | October |
| Halkirk | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| John o' Groats | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Scarfskerry | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Canisbay | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Castletown | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| St Margaret's Hope | Kp 2.5 | Kp 5 | 136 | 70 | October |
| Thurso | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Stromness | Kp 2.4 | Kp 4.9 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Scrabster | Kp 2.6 | Kp 5.1 | 137 | 70 | October |
| Scapa | Kp 2.4 | Kp 4.9 | 136 | 70 | October |
Regions
| Region | Places | Kp needed (min) | Kp 5 | The best places |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Scotland | 5,401 | Kp 1.4 | 100% | Brae |
| England | 24,692 | Kp 4.3 | 6% | Berwick-upon-Tweed |
| Northern Ireland | 640 | Kp 4.5 | 76% | Glenarm |
| Wales | 3,009 | Kp 5.7 | 0% | Llanbadrig |
Chance of seeing the lights on a night, by month
Bars: nights with the Kp needed in true darkness × the usual clear sky.
How it works
The Kp index measures how disturbed the Earth's magnetic field is, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme storm), in three-hour steps. The stronger the disturbance, the further the auroral oval — the ring of light around each magnetic pole — spreads towards the equator.
What counts is the magnetic, not the geographic, latitude. The magnetic pole lies over northern Canada, so North America sees the lights much further south than Europe or Asia at the same latitude. For every place we compute its magnetic latitude and from it the Kp at which the edge of the oval appears low on the horizon and the Kp at which it is overhead.
You also need true darkness (the sun at least 12° below the horizon — around midsummer there is none in the far north), a clear sky and ideally no bright moon. The monthly odds on each page combine thirty years of measured Kp during the dark hours with the place's usual cloud cover.
Northern and southern lights forecast