Will I see the northern lights in Orkney tonight?
Probably not
Clouds and quiet aurora activity (Kp 2.0 forecast, 5.5 needed here) both work against you tonight.
Hour by hour tonight
Loading tonight's hours…
Times are local (Europe/London). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.
Planning a trip to Orkney?
Auroras in Orkney need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 5.5). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky on about 2 nights a year, so treat a sighting here as a bonus, not a plan.
Every night you could have seen them, 2015–2025
25 nights in 11 years were clear and dark in Orkney while auroras reached far enough, by our estimate from NASA cloud data and the Kp record. The strongest: 10 Oct 2024 (Kp 8.3).
- 17 Mar Kp 7.7
- 27 Aug Kp 6.3
- 7 Oct Kp 5.7
- 6 Nov Kp 6
- 20 Dec Kp 6.7
- 31 Dec Kp 6
- 20 Jan Kp 5.7
- 17 Feb Kp 5.7
- 6 Mar Kp 6.3
- 7 Apr Kp 5.7
- 8 May Kp 6.3
- 28 Sep Kp 5.7
- 7 Nov Kp 6.3
- 18 Mar Kp 6
- 11 Oct Kp 6
- 3 Nov Kp 6.3
- 13 Mar Kp 6.3
- 23 Mar Kp 7.3
- 18 Sep Kp 6.3
- 27 Aug Kp 5.7
- 10 Oct Kp 8.3
- 4 Apr Kp 5.7
- 15 Apr Kp 6.3
- 1 Sep Kp 5.7
- 30 Sep Kp 6.3
A "night you could have seen them" = at least one hour that was dark, mostly clear and with Kp at or above the Kp 5.5 that Orkney 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 Orkney with more good nights a year.
Orkney northern lights: questions
Rarely. Orkney sits at 56.4° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 5.5, which means a geomagnetic storm. In 2015–2025 it averaged 2 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 5.5. We worked that out from Orkney's magnetic latitude (56.4°) 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 Orkney, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.