Is Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn better for the northern lights?

Tórshavn sits closer to the oval, at 64.4 degrees geomagnetic against 60.8. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.

Which has longer nights in December, Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn?

Tórshavn, with 16.4 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Isle of Lewis.

What Kp do Isle of Lewis and Tórshavn need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Isle of Lewis needs about Kp 3 and Tórshavn Kp 1 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Isle of Lewis and Tórshavn?

Isle of Lewis: never, every night has civil darkness. Tórshavn: May 28 to July 14.

Which is clearer, Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn?

Isle of Lewis, with 85% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 86% in Tórshavn (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Isle of Lewis vs Tórshavn for the northern lights

Answer

Tórshavn sits 3.7 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 64.4 against 60.8. By SWPC's oval-edge rule Tórshavn needs about Kp 1 for the average edge to sit overhead and Isle of Lewis Kp 3. On the map Tórshavn is also closer to the pole, by 3.8 degrees.

60.8° / 64.4°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Isle of Lewis	Tórshavn
Dipole latitude	60.8°	64.4°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 3	Kp 1
Civil night, December 15	15.7 h	16.4 h
Dark-season days	317	283
Nights with no civil darkness	0	48
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	85%	86%
Solar midnight, December 15	00:21	00:22

Isle of Lewis sits at 60.8 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 3. Tórshavn sits at 64.4 degrees geomagnetic, inside SWPC's 60 to 75 degree band, where aurora can be seen on more than half of all nights. No storm is needed: by SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 1.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Isle of Lewis has 15.7 hours of civil night and Tórshavn 16.4. Across the 15th of each month, Isle of Lewis is darker in 7 months and Tórshavn in 5. The widest gap comes in July, when Isle of Lewis has 3.4 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Isle of Lewis	Tórshavn	Difference
January	15.1 h	15.7 h	-0.6 h
February	13.0 h	13.3 h	-0.3 h
March	10.8 h	10.6 h	+0.2 h
April	8.0 h	7.3 h	+0.7 h
May	5.1 h	3.4 h	+1.7 h
June	2.9 h	0.0 h	+2.9 h
July	4.1 h	0.7 h	+3.4 h
August	6.9 h	6.0 h	+0.9 h
September	9.7 h	9.4 h	+0.3 h
October	12.3 h	12.4 h	-0.1 h
November	14.5 h	15.0 h	-0.5 h
December	15.7 h	16.4 h	-0.7 h

Difference: Isle of Lewis minus Tórshavn. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Isle of Lewis has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 317 days. Tórshavn has no civil darkness from May 28 to July 14, 48 nights in 2026, and its dark season, 4 or more evening hours of civil night, lasts 283 days.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 422 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 86% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Isle of Lewis's best month by civil night times clear sky is October. Tórshavn's best month by civil night times clear sky is December. Time zones: Europe/London and Atlantic/Faroe.

For tonight, open the live pages for Isle of Lewis and Tórshavn, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn better for the northern lights?: Tórshavn sits closer to the oval, at 64.4 degrees geomagnetic against 60.8. Darkness, cloud and your dates decide the rest; the tables on this page show both towns month by month.
Which has longer nights in December, Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn?: Tórshavn, with 16.4 hours of civil night on December 15 against 15.7 in Isle of Lewis.
What Kp do Isle of Lewis and Tórshavn need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Isle of Lewis needs about Kp 3 and Tórshavn Kp 1 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Isle of Lewis and Tórshavn?: Isle of Lewis: never, every night has civil darkness. Tórshavn: May 28 to July 14.
Which is clearer, Isle of Lewis or Tórshavn?: Isle of Lewis, with 85% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 86% in Tórshavn (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Sources and verification

IGRF-14 coefficients, NOAA NCEIhttps://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/IAGA/vmod/coeffs/igrf14coeffs.txt
SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
GeoNameshttps://www.geonames.org/export/
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
NOAA SWPC, Tips on viewing the aurorahttps://www.spaceweather.gov/content/tips-viewing-aurora

Quoted figures last checked against their sources on 2026-09-30; next review 2026-12-31. Computed figures come from SunCalc and the IGRF-14 dipole as described in the methodology. Every quote is listed in the sources ledger.