Will I see the northern lights in Tórshavn tonight?
Probably not
Clouds and quiet aurora activity (Kp 2.0 forecast, 3.9 needed here) both work against you tonight.
Hour by hour tonight
Loading tonight's hours…
Times are local (Atlantic/Faroe). Only hours with the sun below −6° are shown. Kp forecast: NOAA SWPC. Clouds: MET Norway.
Planning a trip to Tórshavn?
Auroras in Tórshavn need a geomagnetic storm (about Kp 3.9). In 2015–2025 that lined up with a clear, dark sky on about 11 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 | 4.0 h | 0.6 h | 2% | 5% | 7% | 13% |
| September | 7.7 h | 1.0 h | 3% | 10% | 14% | 23% |
| October | 10.9 h | 2.1 h | 7% | 18% | 23% | 38% |
| November | 13.3 h | 2.0 h | 5% | 11% | 15% | 20% |
| December | 14.0 h | 1.5 h | 4% | 12% | 15% | 23% |
| January | 13.8 h | 2.1 h | 3% | 8% | 11% | 18% |
| February | 11.7 h | 2.2 h | 6% | 14% | 18% | 28% |
| March | 8.9 h | 1.4 h | 4% | 12% | 15% | 24% |
| April | 4.8 h | 0.8 h | 2% | 7% | 9% | 14% |
"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
120 nights in 11 years were clear and dark in Tórshavn while auroras reached far enough, by our estimate from NASA cloud data and the Kp record. The strongest: 10 Oct 2024 (Kp 8.3).
The 10 strongest nights
- 10 Oct 2024 Kp 8.3
- 12 Nov 2025 Kp 7.3
- 1 Oct 2025 Kp 6.7
- 14 Sep 2025 Kp 6.7
- 20 Dec 2015 Kp 6.7
- 15 Apr 2025 Kp 6.3
- 7 Nov 2017 Kp 6.3
- 7 Nov 2025 Kp 6
- 6 Nov 2015 Kp 6
- 4 Apr 2025 Kp 5.7
A "night you could have seen them" = at least one hour that was dark, mostly clear and with Kp at or above the Kp 3.9 that Tórshavn 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 Tórshavn with more good nights a year.
Tórshavn northern lights: questions
Rarely. Tórshavn sits at 60.1° magnetic latitude, so auroras need about Kp 3.9, which means a geomagnetic storm. In 2015–2025 it averaged 11 nights a year with a clear, dark sky and auroras strong enough to see.
October: a 4-night stay then had at least one good night 23% of the time. Nights are dark enough from August to April. The best hours are usually around local midnight.
About Kp 3.9. We worked that out from Tórshavn's magnetic latitude (60.1°) with a rule calibrated against the Finnish Meteorological Institute's sighting statistics. Look north, away from town lights.
In October, 2 nights gave 13%, 4 nights gave 23%, 7 nights gave 38% odds of at least one good night (2015–2025). Clouds come in spells, so more nights help more than you might think.
Every 10 minutes we take NOAA's Kp forecast and MET Norway's hourly cloud forecast for Tórshavn, add the sun and moon, and score each hour of tonight. The verdict is the best hour. How it works explains the calibration.