YozoraAtlas

Where can you see the northern lights in Finland?

All 86 places on Yozora Atlas in Finland see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. 10 lie under the aurora’s usual ring, Lemmenjoki National Park among them, where it shows on almost any clear, dark night. At the southern edge, in Helsinki, it takes a minor storm (Kp 5), about 39 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 0 to 2Kp 3Kp 4Kp 5Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon
Night-lights map of Finland with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights
  • Kp 0 to 2under the ring10 placesalmost every night
  • Kp 3an unsettled night12 places~176 nights a year
  • Kp 4an active night41 places~92 nights a year
  • Kp 5a minor storm23 places~39 nights a year

Which parts of Finland see the northern lights most often?

Each region with the Kp range of its places, the nights a year its best place reaches that level, and the darkest place to watch from.

State or regionPlacesKp neededNights a yearDarkest place to watch from
Lapland8Kp 1 to 2346 nightsLemmenjoki National ParkBortle 3, Kp 1
North Ostrobothnia6Kp 2 to 3269 nightsOulanka National ParkBortle 3, Kp 2
Ostrobothnia1Kp 3185 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker
Central Finland4Kp 3 to 4176 nightsSalamajärvi National ParkBortle 4, Kp 3
Central Ostrobothnia1Kp 3176 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker
Kainuu2Kp 3176 nightsHiidenportti National ParkBortle 3, Kp 3
North Savo5Kp 3 to 4176 nightsTiilikkajärvi National ParkBortle 3, Kp 3
South Ostrobothnia2Kp 3 to 4176 nightsnone at Bortle 4 or darker
Satakunta3Kp 495 nightsKauhaneva-Pohjankangas National ParkBortle 4, Kp 4
Southwest Finland6Kp 4 to 595 nightsKurjenrahka National ParkBortle 4, Kp 4

The darkest places in Finland to watch the northern lights

The towns in Finland where the northern lights show most often

  1. Lemmenjoki National Park Lapland · Bortle 3 · Kp 1346 nights
  2. Pallas-Yllästunturi National Park Lapland · Bortle 3 · Kp 1346 nights
  3. Urho Kekkonen National Park Lapland · Bortle 3 · Kp 1346 nights
  4. Oulanka National Park North Ostrobothnia · Bortle 3 · Kp 2269 nights
  5. Syöte National Park North Ostrobothnia · Bortle 3 · Kp 2269 nights
  6. Riisitunturi National Park Lapland · Bortle 3 · Kp 2269 nights
  7. Pyhä-Luosto National Park Lapland · Bortle 4 · Kp 2269 nights
  8. Salla National Park Lapland · Bortle 4 · Kp 2269 nights
  9. Hossa National Park North Ostrobothnia · Bortle 3 · Kp 3176 nights
  10. Hiidenportti National Park Kainuu · Bortle 3 · Kp 3176 nights
  1. Tornio Lapland · Kp 2269 nights
  2. Rovaniemi Lapland · Kp 2269 nights
  3. Vaasa Ostrobothnia · Kp 3185 nights
  4. Iisalmi North Savo · Kp 3176 nights
  5. Raahe North Ostrobothnia · Kp 3176 nights
  6. Kajaani Kainuu · Kp 3176 nights
  7. Kokkola Central Ostrobothnia · Kp 3176 nights
  8. Seinäjoki South Ostrobothnia · Kp 3176 nights
  9. Oulu North Ostrobothnia · Kp 3176 nights
  10. Lieto Southwest Finland · Kp 495 nights

Nights a year since 1932 with the Kp level the place needs, between 9 pm and 3 am. These are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them, and away from the far north a display is often a faint glow low in the north that a phone camera shows better than the eye. From inside a town only bright displays show through the glow: each town page names the closest dark spot without the town in its northern sky.

When are the northern lights most likely in Finland?

Averaged over the 86 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and October: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 86 of the 86 places have no night dark enough, the sun staying less than 12° below the horizon. Clouds are not counted here; each place page has its clear nights by month.

9.0Jan9.5Feb11.3Mar8.8Apr0.8May0.0Jun0.0Jul5.2Aug10.2Sep10.3Oct8.7Nov8.3Dec

How the Kp levels and night counts for Finland are worked out

The aurora forms in a ring around the magnetic north pole, and the stronger a geomagnetic storm, the further south it reaches. Storm strength is measured by the Kp index, from 0 (quiet) to 9 (extreme). For each place the Kp level comes from its magnetic latitude, using the rule NOAA uses: the edge of the aurora sits at 66.5° magnetic latitude at Kp 0 and about 2° further south per step. It can be off by one level, and a phone camera often shows a display the eye barely sees. How often that level was reached comes from the Kp record of GFZ Potsdam, 1932 to 2025. None of this is a forecast: for tonight, see NOAA’s 30-minute aurora forecast. How it works