Where to See the Northern Lights Tonight

The table at the top of this page is the answer for tonight: every place we track whose forecast passes our visibility check, ordered by aurora activity, with the night's cloud cover, the moon and the best viewing window next to each one. On most nights the first rows are places under the auroral oval, such as Tromsø or Abisko, where aurora appears even when the Kp index is low. Farther from the pole a place is listed only on nights when the Kp reaches its own threshold — and clouds take a place off the list at any latitude.

Type your town into the search box on this page, or use the location button to list the nearest places we track; each one opens its own forecast, with tonight's verdict for that place, the best viewing window and an hour-by-hour view of the night. Your position is used in your browser only and is not sent to us. Four things decide the night where you are: the Kp index against your place's threshold, cloud cover, darkness and the moon. If your place is not in the table, the Kp ladder further down shows which Kp brings the aurora to your latitude.

A place is listed only when tonight's forecast for it passes every check: enough aurora activity for its latitude — the night's highest Kp close to the place's own threshold, or NOAA's OVATION model showing aurora over it; a sky that gets dark at some point in the night; a night that is not overcast; a forecast score above "unlikely"; and a Kp forecast that covers the night. Listed places are ordered by aurora activity first and by the overall Aurora Score — which adds cloud cover, darkness and the moon — second. A clear sky alone never lists a place.

• How Our Aurora Forecast Works: Data Sources and Method