Where can you see the northern lights in the United Kingdom?

All 299 places on Yozora Atlas in the United Kingdom see the northern lights on their northern horizon in a storm of Kp 7 or less. North Uist, Scotland, needs only Kp 3, an unsettled night, which has happened on about 185 nights a year since 1932. At the southern edge, in London, it takes a strong storm (Kp 7), about 5 nights a year. Those are nights with enough activity, not sightings: clouds and the moon hide many of them.

Kp 3Kp 4Kp 5Kp 6Kp 7Kp level that brings the aurora to the northern horizon

Night-lights map of the United Kingdom with every place colored by the storm strength it needs to see the northern lights

Kp 3an unsettled night9 places~185 nights a year
Kp 4an active night25 places~95 nights a year
Kp 5a minor storm48 places~39 nights a year
Kp 6a moderate storm101 places~14 nights a year
Kp 7a strong storm116 places~5 nights a year

Which parts of the United Kingdom see the northern lights most often?

Each nation 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 region	Places	Kp needed	Nights a year	Darkest place to watch from
Scotland	49	Kp 3 to 5	185 nights	North UistBortle 2, Kp 3
England	217	Kp 5 to 7	39 nights	the Cheviot HillsBortle 4, Kp 5
Northern Ireland	13	Kp 5	39 nights	the SperrinsBortle 4, Kp 5
Wales	20	Kp 6 to 7	14 nights	Coed y BontBortle 4, Kp 6

The darkest places in the United Kingdom to watch the northern lights

The towns in the United Kingdom where the northern lights show most often

North Uist Scotland · Bortle 2 · Kp 3185 nights
Assynt Scotland · Bortle 2 · Kp 3185 nights
the Flow Country Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Harris Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Lewis Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Durness Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Dunnet Head Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Shetland Scotland · Bortle 3 · Kp 3185 nights
Orkney Scotland · Bortle 4 · Kp 3185 nights
South Uist Scotland · Bortle 2 · Kp 495 nights

Dundee Scotland · Kp 495 nights
Aberdeen Scotland · Kp 495 nights
Morecambe England · Kp 539 nights
Dunfermline Scotland · Kp 539 nights
Kirkcaldy Scotland · Kp 539 nights
Carlisle England · Kp 539 nights
Craigavon Northern Ireland · Kp 539 nights
Lisburn Northern Ireland · Kp 539 nights
Bangor Northern Ireland · Kp 539 nights
Barrow in Furness England · Kp 539 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 the United Kingdom?

Averaged over the 299 places, the most nights with a strong enough storm during darkness come in March and April: geomagnetic storms are more frequent around the equinoxes, and the nights are long enough to see them. In June 38 of the 299 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.

How the Kp levels and night counts for the United Kingdom 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