Northern lights forecast: the next three days
Highest predicted Kp in the next three days: 4.7 on Tue 20.10.
Aurora appears when a storm of charged particles from the Sun shakes the Earth's magnetic field. The Kp index measures how strongly, from 0 to 9. In northern Scandinavia almost any value will do; Scotland needs about Kp 4, London 6, New York 6 or more. The forecast comes from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center and is loaded fresh when you open the page.
Kp forecast in three-hour blocks
Times in UTC
Where it could reach
| Place | Needs | Next three days |
|---|---|---|
| Tromsø | Kp 0 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Reykjavík | Kp 0 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Rovaniemi | Kp 0 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Fairbanks | Kp 0 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Anchorage | Kp 1 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Yellowknife | Kp 0 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Inverness | Kp 3 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Edinburgh | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Belfast | Kp 5 | borderline |
| Manchester | Kp 5 | borderline |
| Dublin | Kp 5 | borderline |
| London | Kp 6 | unlikely |
| Seattle | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Minneapolis | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Chicago | Kp 5 | borderline |
| Toronto | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| New York | Kp 6 | unlikely |
| Hobart | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
| Melbourne | Kp 6 | unlikely |
| Christchurch | Kp 5 | borderline |
| Dunedin | Kp 4 | possible on Tue 20.10. |
How to see it
It has to be dark and clear, with an open view towards the pole: north in the northern hemisphere, south in the southern, away from city lights. At mid latitudes aurora usually sits low on the horizon as a green or red glow; the eye often sees it grey, a phone camera in night mode shows the colours. Kp is a three-hour average: a short burst can bring more, a quiet spell less. The values in the table are a rule of thumb for a camera at the horizon.
On 10 May 2024 a storm reached Kp 9: aurora was seen across Europe and the United States, as far south as Spain and Florida.