Northern Lights Forecast

Clear skyCloudy

Cloud layers are loading

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Map: Natural Earth · OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap · OpenMapTiles. Clouds: DMI · CC BY 4.0. Points: MET Norway.

Waiting for forecast hours

Select an hour to compare viewing chances.

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With your permission, approximate coordinates are sent for a local forecast. Location privacy

Beyond the clouds

The aurora overall

Planetary activity · current period

Checking Kp…Waiting for the current three hour index

Waiting for current data

ⓘ Globe controls and activity details

ⓘ What does Kp mean?

Kp runs from 0 to 9 and describes planetary geomagnetic activity over three hours. A higher value means more disturbance, not a guaranteed local sighting. Aurora can be visible in Iceland at low Kp. Clouds and darkness still decide what you can see.

Magnetic direction · BzCheckingWaiting for current data

A global view. Local clouds and darkness still matter.

Loading NOAA’s latest forecast…

Preparing the interactive globe…

Model intensity at globe centre: loading

Bz observation pending

Sustained negative, southward Bz generally favours energy transfer into Earth’s magnetic field. A single reading cannot predict a sighting.

Green · Aurora activityRed · Strong aurora activityNeutral · Low or unavailable activity. Red means activity, not danger.

Low intensityHigh intensity

NOAA OVATION intensity, not your local viewing chance. The globe shows the latest near term forecast and does not follow the cloud timeline. Your personal viewing percentage follows the selected map hour.

Night Earth: NASA Earth Observatory, Black Marble 2016. Static satellite composite, not a live image. Joshua Stevens, using Suomi NPP VIIRS data from Miguel Román, NASA GSFC. Aurora and solar wind: NOAA SWPC. Geography: Natural Earth.

Live space weather

ⓘ Sources and what the charts mean

Checking the solar wind and magnetic field…

Solid lines show recent observations. Dashed lines show estimated arrivals or labelled model forecasts.

Solar wind speed and density, and IMF Bz and Bt: NOAA’s active primary spacecraft, quality checked one minute observations upstream of Earth. Sustained southward Bz generally favours energy transfer. Strong Bt or a density spike alone cannot predict a sighting.

Upstream solar wind can provide short advance notice. Dashed arrival traces use NOAA’s ballistic propagation of real wind, density, Bz and Bt measurements from L1 to the Geospace model boundary, 32 Earth radii upstream. This is estimated near Earth arrival, not an observation at Earth or the time aurora will appear. We show only supplied arrival times within the next 30 minutes, never a continued trend. Timing is uncertain; a 15 minute source delay removes the arrival trace. Dst is not extended.

Hemispheric power: NOAA OVATION’s northern short term model forecast in gigawatts, not a direct measurement. Dst: provisional hourly Kyoto observations via NOAA. More negative Dst can indicate a stronger storm time ring current; it is not a local aurora forecast.

Select a time to compare the nearest valid reading on each chart. Every selected reading keeps its actual timestamp. Gaps are missing observations, not interpolated measurements. We check for new data every five minutes while this page is visible.

NOAA SWPC · OVATION · NOAA arrival timing · WDC for Geomagnetism, Kyoto · Dst

Compare viewing locations

Observed locally

Live magnetic activity · Leirvogur

Checking the official chart…

Loading the latest available Leirvogur chart…

ⓘ Understand Z, H & D

Original Z, H and D measurements from Leirvogur near Reykjavík. Z is the vertical magnetic field and H the horizontal intensity, in nT. D is magnetic declination, in degrees. These are observations, not a future forecast. Disturbances can accompany auroral activity, but do not guarantee a visible aurora.

The chart header shows its observation date and UTC time. Updated above is the original file’s publication time supplied by the observatory, not the time you opened this page. We check for a new chart every ten minutes and retain the last good image during temporary outages.

Official charts and alternative map

Kp for displayed chartChecking…

Checking available Kp data

Iceland time (UTC)

Icelandic Meteorological Office · Original official chart

Preparing cloud forecast…

Waiting for forecast hours

Select an hour to compare viewing chances.

More forecast details

Map levels can be selected by the site team. The forecast readings below retain their calculated values and times.

Loading aurora activity and cloud forecasts…

Map controls and sources

Preparing cloud forecast…

NightForecast locationMap time

Loading the gridded cloud forecast…

Drag to explore. Use two fingers on touch screens. Scroll normally to move down the page.

LowMediumHighVery high

Cloud layer colour key

Clear sky Dark blue green land within the loaded model has the least cloud. The darker navy ocean stays separate. Best sky visibility for aurora.
Low clouds Turquoise · low cloud may completely block the sky.
Middle clouds Violet · mid level cloud can reduce or block visibility.
High clouds Amber · thin high cloud can allow some aurora through, but high cloud is not always thin.

Brighter cloud cover progressively hides the distinctive land colour. Overlaps retain colour, with lower clouds covering higher layers in this ground view. Select Low, Middle or High to inspect every contributing layer. Hatched areas have no grid data. The outer ocean edge fades for display; this does not indicate clearer conditions.

Map sources and model details

Smooth cloud layers: Danish Meteorological Institute, HARMONIE DINI, 2 km model under CC BY 4.0. We reproject and bilinearly interpolate the real grid for display, without changing the source values or inferring cloud movement. The coloured composite is not a total cloud percentage. Location values and scores use the separate MET Norway point model; the models can differ. Cloud layer colours above apply to our smooth map, not the original charts below.

Cloud layer charts: Icelandic Meteorological Office, used under its data reuse terms. Original charts are shown without recolouring, cropping or projection changes. White means no cloud in the selected layer. Blue denotes low cloud, red middle cloud and orange high cloud. Compare layers shows total, low, middle and high cloud in four panels. No gridded clouds are inferred from point forecasts.

Map: Natural Earth · OpenFreeMap · OpenStreetMap · OpenMapTiles · Cloud grids: DMI · Points: MET Norway

Tonight’s viewing outlook and best window

Tonight’s viewing conditions

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Checking conditions

An estimate, not a guaranteed sighting.

Looking for clearer skies

We compare forecast locations across Iceland.

Cloud cover: Pending; Checking skies
Kp activity: Pending
Best window: Pending

Hour by hour

ⓘ Bz observations and history

Bz over the last 24 hours

Observed history · NOAA SWPC · GSM

Actual one minute measurements, not a future Bz forecast. Swipe or drag across the hours, then tap a point.

Loading Bz observations…

Best at this hour

Based on available point forecasts. Check roads before setting off.

Viewing conditions…Estimated conditionsGuidance, not a guaranteed sighting

Choose a forecast location

Checking the best viewing time

ⓘ Cloud and weather details

Point forecasts are loading.

Low, middle and high cloud percentages appear here.

Weather details are loading.

Swipe through the hours. Select a card to compare that time on the map.

Hourly forecasts are loading.

Rain and snow totals are for the following hour. Wind direction shows where the wind comes from. Visibility distance is not supplied by this feed.

Darkness and moon

Sun times and moon phase are approximate calculations. Full darkness means the sun is at least 18° below the horizon. Moonlight is shown for context and is not included in the score.

How this forecast works and data sources

Kp measures planetary geomagnetic activity from 0 to 9. Higher values can mean stronger activity, but Iceland can see aurora at low Kp too. It is not a local sighting probability.

Our viewing categories use an uncalibrated planning score. It combines Kp, a strong cloud penalty and calculated darkness at each location. Overcast skies score zero even with high Kp. Daylight and bright twilight also score zero. When supplied, low and middle cloud apply stronger additional penalties than high cloud. Precipitation, fog and measured visibility can reduce the score further; absent optional fields are omitted, never assumed to be zero. The interface groups the score into Low, Medium, High and Very high conditions. Low is below 20, Medium is 20 to 44, High is 45 to 69, and Very high is 70 or above. These categories are not probabilities. Light pollution, terrain, rapid local changes and individual eyesight are not modelled. High cloud is not automatically treated as thin.

The summary shows the highest estimated hour among the available locations tonight, not an average for all Iceland. The suggested window groups adjacent hours within ten score points of that peak. The list and map compare the same selected hour. The Capital Region is shown first as a reference, followed by other locations ranked by that hour’s score. This does not override the best location recommendation.

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center: public domain Kp forecast, checked hourly by our server when requested.
MET Norway Locationforecast: cloud layers, temperature, wind and weather, used under CC BY 4.0. Data are combined into our own score; no provider endorsement is implied.
Icelandic Meteorological Office: official aurora and cloud maps for comparison, and Reykjavík sun and moon information from its documented XML feed.

All times are Iceland time · Atlantic/Reykjavik · UTC

Forecasts change quickly. Northern Lights sightings are never guaranteed.

Before travelling, check Icelandic weather, roads and official warnings, and Safetravel. High viewing conditions do not mean a journey is safe. Never stop on the road to watch the sky.