YozoraAtlas

Where can you see the northern lights in Ireland?

All 42 places on Yozora Atlas in Ireland see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. Achill Island, Connacht, needs only Kp 5, a minor storm, which has happened on about 39 nights a year since 1932. At the southern edge, in Dublin, it takes a moderate storm (Kp 6), about 14 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 5Kp 6Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon
Night-lights map of Ireland with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights
  • Kp 5a minor storm16 places~39 nights a year
  • Kp 6a moderate storm26 places~14 nights a year

Which parts of Ireland see the northern lights most often?

Each province 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
Connacht7Kp 539 nightsAchill IslandBortle 3, Kp 5
Leinster17Kp 5 to 639 nightsthe Cooley PeninsulaBortle 4, Kp 5
Ulster3Kp 539 nightsGlenveagh National ParkBortle 4, Kp 5
Munster15Kp 614 nightsMizen HeadBortle 3, Kp 6

The darkest places in Ireland to watch the northern lights

The towns in Ireland where the northern lights show most often

  1. Achill Island Connacht · Bortle 3 · Kp 539 nights
  2. Connemara National Park Connacht · Bortle 3 · Kp 539 nights
  3. Wild Nephin National Park Connacht · Bortle 3 · Kp 539 nights
  4. Slieve League Connacht · Bortle 3 · Kp 539 nights
  5. the Ox Mountains Connacht · Bortle 4 · Kp 539 nights
  6. Glenveagh National Park Ulster · Bortle 4 · Kp 539 nights
  7. Inishowen Ulster · Bortle 4 · Kp 539 nights
  8. the Cooley Peninsula Leinster · Bortle 4 · Kp 539 nights
  9. Mizen Head Munster · Bortle 3 · Kp 614 nights
  10. the Kerry Dark-Sky Reserve Munster · Bortle 3 · Kp 614 nights
  1. Mullingar Leinster · Kp 539 nights
  2. Navan Leinster · Kp 539 nights
  3. Athlone Leinster · Kp 539 nights
  4. Letterkenny Ulster · Kp 539 nights
  5. Dundalk Leinster · Kp 539 nights
  6. Sligo Connacht · Kp 539 nights
  7. Drogheda Leinster · Kp 539 nights
  8. Galway Connacht · Kp 539 nights
  9. Wexford Leinster · Kp 614 nights
  10. Ennis Munster · Kp 614 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 Ireland?

Averaged over the 42 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and September: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. Clouds are not counted here; each place page has its clear nights by month.

1.4Jan1.8Feb2.9Mar2.7Apr2.1May1.4Jun1.5Jul1.9Aug2.7Sep2.5Oct1.7Nov1.0Dec

How the Kp levels and night counts for Ireland 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 AuroraWatch UK. How it works