Northern Lights Webcams Live
Kp now2+
QuietChance - NOAA's aurora forecast near the camera, with darkness and clouds taken into account
Northern lights possible now at 21 cameras
Tromsø South
4.0
Norway
Apatity
5.0
Russia
What the Kp index means
Kp measures geomagnetic activity on a scale from 0 to 9, every three hours. The higher it is, the brighter the aurora and the further from the pole it can be seen.
- Kp 0-3 - Quiet
The aurora stays near the Arctic Circle: northern Norway and Finland, Iceland, Alaska. - Kp 4 - Active
Brighter and further south - visible across Scandinavia and Canada. - Kp 5-6 - Geomagnetic storm
The aurora reaches Scotland, the Baltics and the northern US. - Kp 7-9 - Strong geomagnetic storm
Seen far to the south, sometimes across most of Europe.
When to look
From September to March, around local midnight, under a clear sky. In summer the far north has no dark nights, so the list stays almost empty.
Space weather data: NOAA SWPC
How this page finds the northern lights
This page shows the webcams where the northern lights may be on screen right now. The list is built automatically: for every camera in the north we check NOAA's aurora forecast nearby, whether it is already dark there and what the clouds are doing. The cameras with the best chance come first, and the list updates every few minutes as night moves across the Arctic.
Above the list is the Kp index - the measure of geomagnetic activity that decides how bright the aurora is and how far south it reaches. At Kp 1-3 it usually stays over northern Scandinavia, Iceland, Canada and Alaska. From Kp 5, a geomagnetic storm, it can be seen much further south, and the chart shows when NOAA expects the next rise.
The best time to look is from September to March, a couple of hours either side of local midnight, under a clear sky. In summer the far north has no dark nights, so the list can stay empty for weeks - come back in autumn, or when the forecast shows a storm.