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Updated every afternoon · 12 aurora destinations

Northern lights forecast tonight

Know which nights are worth it. One honest forecast a day for the far north, with ten winters of camera and sky data behind every destination.

Best chance tonight 70% Fairbanks Excellent tonight · Worth staying up for.
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Tonight · Saturday 31 October

Tonight across the north

Map of the aurora destinations around the Arctic, with tonight's chanceIceland 50%Fairbanks 70%Yellowknife 45%Tromsø 10%Abisko 30%Kiruna 60%Alta 35%Lofoten 5%Kirkenes 25%Rovaniemi 40%Levi 60%Saariselkä 15%
Map of northern Norway, Sweden and Finland, with tonight's chanceTromsø 10%Abisko 30%Kiruna 60%Alta 35%Lofoten 5%Kirkenes 25%Rovaniemi 40%Levi 60%Saariselkä 15%
Northern Scandinavia

Good or ExcellentPossibleLowNot issued

TromsøNorway 10%LowBest month: JanuaryAbiskoSweden 30%PossibleBest month: NovemberKirunaSweden 60%GoodBest month: JanuaryAltaNorway 35%PossibleBest month: DecemberLofotenNorway 5%LowBest month: DecemberKirkenesNorway 25%LowBest month: JanuaryRovaniemiFinland 40%PossibleBest month: MarchLeviFinland 60%GoodBest month: MarchSaariselkäFinland 15%LowBest month: JanuaryIcelandIceland 50%GoodBest month: DecemberFairbanksUnited States 70%ExcellentBest month: JanuaryYellowknifeCanada 45%PossibleBest month: March

Each forecast is issued once a day in the afternoon before the night. The app updates it through the evening.

Last quarter, 65% lit

Moon phase tonight · Saturday 31 October

Last quarter, 65% lit

A bright moon washes out faint aurora, while strong displays still show through. The darkest skies come in the week around new moon.

Next new moon
Monday 9 November
Next full moon
Tuesday 24 November

Does a full moon ruin the northern lights? What our camera data shows

  1. Last quarter, 65% litToday65%
  2. Last quarter, 43% litMon 243%
  3. Waning crescent, 23% litWed 423%
  4. Waning crescent, 8% litFri 68%
  5. New moon, 1% litSun 81%
  6. New moon, 2% litTue 102%
  7. Waxing crescent, 10% litThu 1210%
  8. Waxing crescent, 23% litSat 1423%
  9. First quarter, 41% litMon 1641%
  10. First quarter, 60% litWed 1860%
  11. Waxing gibbous, 79% litFri 2079%
  12. Full moon, 94% litSun 2294%
  13. Full moon, 100% litTue 24100%
  14. Waning gibbous, 95% litThu 2695%
  15. Waning gibbous, 79% litSat 2879%

Plan your trip

Northern lights calendar 2026–27: dark, moon-free nights

Aurora itself can only be forecast a few days ahead. What you can plan months ahead is darkness and the moon. Each night shows how many dark hours have no moonlight at your destination.

October 2026

MoTuWeThFrSaSu10h20h30h40h59h69h710h810h910h1010h1110h1210h1310h1410h1511h1611h1711h1811h1911h207h214h222h231h240h250h260h270h280h290h300h310h

November 2026

MoTuWeThFrSaSu13h25h38h413h513h613h713h813h914h1014h1114h1214h1314h1414h1514h1611h179h187h195h203h211h220h230h240h250h260h270h280h294h306h

December 2026

MoTuWeThFrSaSu18h210h316h416h516h616h716h816h916h1016h1116h1216h1316h1413h1511h169h177h185h192h200h210h220h230h240h250h261h274h286h298h3010h3112h

January 2027

MoTuWeThFrSaSu116h216h316h416h516h616h716h816h916h1016h1116h1216h139h147h155h161h170h180h190h200h210h220h230h242h254h266h278h2811h2914h3014h3114h

February 2027

MoTuWeThFrSaSu114h213h313h413h513h613h713h813h913h1012h1111h123h130h140h150h160h170h180h190h200h210h221h233h246h2510h2610h2710h2810h

March 2027

MoTuWeThFrSaSu110h210h310h410h510h69h79h89h99h109h118h128h130h140h150h160h170h180h190h200h210h220h231h244h256h266h276h286h296h305h314h

From the blog

Northern lights guides, from our data

DestinationsAbisko vs Tromsø for the northern lights: what camera and cloud data sayFor seeing the aurora itself, inland Swedish Lapland beat coastal Tromsø in our data. All-sky cameras recorded clearly visible aurora on 46% of nights at Kiruna and 60% at Abisko, against 32% at Tromsø. Tromsø wins on access, the city and tours.TromsøBest month for the northern lights in Tromsø, from camera and weather dataFrom November to January, Tromsø has the longest darkness and, in ten winters of airport data, the most nights with a usable sky. January stood out on the all-sky camera, with clearly visible aurora on 47% of nights in the 2023–26 winters. September to mid-April works, with more cloud and shorter nights at the edges.CloudsDo clouds stop the northern lights? Ten winters of airport cloud dataThick low cloud blocks the northern lights completely, and it is the most common reason travellers miss them. In ten winters of airport reports, the clearest of our 12 destinations had a usable dark sky on about 7 nights in 10, the cloudiest on about 5 in 10.AccuracyHow accurate are aurora forecasts? We checked ours against all-sky camerasWe checked our nightly aurora ratings against all-sky cameras in northern Norway and Sweden over three winters. On nights rated Excellent, clearly visible aurora was recorded 79% of the time; on nights rated Low, 15%.PlanningHow many nights do you need to see the northern lights? What ten winters of data sayPlan at least four or five nights. In ten winters of cloud data, five nights in a row gave at least one usable dark sky 88–98% of the time, depending on the destination. With five nights in Tromsø, an all-sky camera recorded clearly visible aurora at least once 79% of the time; in Kiruna, 92%.Kp indexWhy the Kp index can't tell you if you'll see the northern lightsKp measures how disturbed the Earth's magnetic field is, not whether you'll see anything. On nights a Kp-style forecast called good, low cloud covered the sky all night 41% of the time, the same as on all nights. In the far north, clouds and darkness decide more than Kp.PlanningBest time to see the northern lights: month by month, from ten winters of dataThe best months are the ones that are both dark and clear. Here is when aurora cameras saw it most often, and when low cloud was rarest at twelve destinations, from ten winters of airport reports.The moonDoes a full moon ruin the northern lights? What our camera data showsA full moon does not ruin the northern lights, but it hides the faint ones. When we checked moonlit camera frames by eye, about half of the aurora the cameras recorded was still worth seeing for a person.

What the percentage means

The chance that clearly visible aurora appears during the dark hours tonight at that place, if skies allow and you're watching. It combines space weather, cloud layers, darkness and moonlight. Kp alone can't tell good nights from bad at these latitudes. How we know

Know which nights are worth it

Aurora follows the clouds through the evening, shows the next nights, and alerts you only when a night is worth going out. iPhone, subscription.

Download on the App Store