Will I see the northern lights in Helsinki tonight?
Probably not
Skies look mostly clear, but auroras are forecast to be quiet: Kp 2.0, and Helsinki needs about Kp 5.3.
Hour by hour tonight
Loading tonight's hours…
Times are local (Europe/Helsinki). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.
Planning a trip to Helsinki?
Auroras in Helsinki need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 5.3). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky on about 5 nights a year, so treat a sighting here as a bonus, not a plan.
Chance on a 4-night stay, week by week
By month
| Month | Dark / night | Clear & dark | 1 night | 3 nights | 4 nights | 7 nights |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August | 4.2 h | 2.2 h | 2% | 6% | 9% | 15% |
| September | 8.0 h | 3.1 h | 2% | 6% | 8% | 15% |
| October | 10.8 h | 3.3 h | 2% | 6% | 7% | 11% |
| November | 13.2 h | 2.1 h | 1% | 3% | 4% | 6% |
| December | 14.0 h | 2.4 h | 1% | 3% | 3% | 6% |
| January | 13.8 h | 3.0 h | 1% | 2% | 2% | 3% |
| February | 11.6 h | 3.1 h | 1% | 3% | 5% | 9% |
| March | 9.0 h | 3.6 h | 4% | 11% | 14% | 24% |
| April | 5.6 h | 2.7 h | 2% | 5% | 6% | 11% |
"Clear & dark" = average hours per night with the sun below −12° and mostly clear sky. Odds = share of stays with at least one clear, dark hour when auroras were strong enough here.
Chance of at least one clear, dark night with auroras strong enough to see, from what really happened in the same week in each of 11 years.
Every night you could have seen them, 2015–2025
52 nights in 11 years were clear and dark in Helsinki while auroras reached far enough, by our estimate from NASA cloud data and the Kp record. The strongest: 23 Apr 2023 (Kp 8.3).
- 17 Mar Kp 7.7
- 9 Apr Kp 5.3
- 15 Aug Kp 5.3
- 28 Aug Kp 5.7
- 6 Oct Kp 6
- 7 Oct Kp 6
- 14 Dec Kp 5.3
- 16 Feb Kp 5.3
- 15 Mar Kp 5.3
- 7 Apr Kp 5.7
- 8 May Kp 6.3
- 23 Aug Kp 5.3
- 26 Oct Kp 5.7
- 28 Oct Kp 5.3
- 21 Mar Kp 5.3
- 27 Mar Kp 6.3
- 15 Sep Kp 5.3
- 7 Nov Kp 6.3
- 26 Feb Kp 5.3
- 5 May Kp 5.7
- 7 Oct Kp 5.3
- 4 Nov Kp 5.3
- 27 Sep Kp 5.3
- 27 Sep Kp 5.3
- 14 Jan Kp 5.7
- 5 Mar Kp 5.3
- 13 Mar Kp 6.3
- 7 Aug Kp 5.7
- 26 Sep Kp 5.3
- 26 Feb Kp 5.7
- 15 Mar Kp 5.7
- 23 Mar Kp 7.3
- 23 Apr Kp 8.3
- 24 Sep Kp 5.7
- 25 Nov Kp 6.3
- 3 Mar Kp 6.3
- 12 Aug Kp 6
- 17 Aug Kp 5.3
- 27 Aug Kp 5.7
- 6 Oct Kp 5.3
- 16 Dec Kp 5.3
- 1 Jan Kp 6.3
- 8 Mar Kp 5.7
- 21 Mar Kp 5.7
- 26 Mar Kp 5.7
- 4 Apr Kp 5.7
- 5 Apr Kp 5.3
- 15 Apr Kp 6.3
- 1 Sep Kp 5.7
- 9 Sep Kp 5.3
- 18 Oct Kp 6.3
- 12 Nov Kp 6.7
A "night you could have seen them" = at least one hour that was dark, mostly clear and with Kp at or above the Kp 5.3 that Helsinki needs. Look north, low on the horizon, away from town lights: the northern lights here are usually a glow that a phone camera picks up better than your eyes.
Better odds nearby
Places within 700 km of Helsinki with more good nights a year.
Helsinki northern lights: questions
Rarely. Helsinki sits at 56.9° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 5.3, which means a geomagnetic storm. In 2015–2025 it averaged 5 nights a year with a clear, dark sky and auroras strong enough to see.
There is no reliable season: auroras this far south come with strong geomagnetic storms, which can happen in any dark month. Watch the live forecast and the Kp index instead of planning a trip around them.
About Kp 5.3. We worked that out from Helsinki's magnetic latitude (56.9°) with a rule calibrated against the Finnish Meteorological Institute's sighting statistics. Look north, low on the horizon, away from town lights.
Every 10 minutes we take NOAA's Kp forecast and MET Norway's hourly cloud forecast for Helsinki, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.