Is Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens better for the northern lights?

St Helens sits closer to the oval, at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic against 55.1. 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, Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens?

Stoke-on-Trent, with 14.9 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.9 in St Helens.

What Kp do Stoke-on-Trent and St Helens need?

By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Stoke-on-Trent needs about Kp 6 and St Helens Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.

When is it too light for aurora in Stoke-on-Trent and St Helens?

Stoke-on-Trent: never, every night has civil darkness. St Helens: never, every night has civil darkness.

Which is clearer, Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens?

Stoke-on-Trent, with 77% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 77% in St Helens (NASA POWER, 2001 to 2020).

Comparison

Stoke-on-Trent vs St Helens for the northern lights

Answer

St Helens sits 0.5 degrees higher on the IGRF-14 dipole, 55.6 against 55.1. By SWPC's oval-edge rule St Helens needs about Kp 6 for the average edge to sit overhead and Stoke-on-Trent Kp 6. On the map St Helens is also closer to the pole, by 0.4 degrees.

55.1° / 55.6°

dipole latitude

Side by side

Computed figures for both towns
Figure	Stoke-on-Trent	St Helens
Dipole latitude	55.1°	55.6°
Kp for the oval edge overhead	Kp 6	Kp 6
Civil night, December 15	14.9 h	14.9 h
Dark-season days	365	365
Nights with no civil darkness	0	0
Dark-month cloud, NASA POWER	77%	77%
Solar midnight, December 15	00:04	00:06

Stoke-on-Trent sits at 55.1 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. St Helens sits at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 6, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

Civil night month by month

On December 15 Stoke-on-Trent has 14.9 hours of civil night and St Helens 14.9. Across the 15th of each month, Stoke-on-Trent is darker in 4 months and St Helens in 2. The widest gap comes in July, when Stoke-on-Trent has 0.2 more hours.

Hours of civil night on the 15th of each month, 2026
Month	Stoke-on-Trent	St Helens	Difference
January	14.4 h	14.5 h	-0.1 h
February	12.8 h	12.8 h	+0.0 h
March	10.9 h	10.9 h	+0.0 h
April	8.6 h	8.6 h	+0.0 h
May	6.5 h	6.4 h	+0.1 h
June	5.2 h	5.1 h	+0.1 h
July	5.9 h	5.7 h	+0.2 h
August	7.8 h	7.8 h	+0.0 h
September	10.1 h	10.0 h	+0.1 h
October	12.1 h	12.1 h	+0.0 h
November	13.9 h	14.0 h	-0.1 h
December	14.9 h	14.9 h	+0.0 h

Difference: Stoke-on-Trent minus St Helens. Each figure links to that town's month page.

Season and midnight sun

Stoke-on-Trent has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and clears Glow's 4-hour dark-season bar every evening. St Helens has some civil darkness every night of 2026, and clears Glow's 4-hour dark-season bar every evening.

Distance, cloud and time zones

The two towns are 62 km apart by great circle. In the dark months both average about 77% cloud in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record. Stoke-on-Trent's best month by civil night times clear sky is February. St Helens's best month by civil night times clear sky is February. Time zones: Europe/London and Europe/London.

For tonight, open the live pages for Stoke-on-Trent and St Helens, which carry the live OVATION cell.

Questions

Is Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens better for the northern lights?: St Helens sits closer to the oval, at 55.6 degrees geomagnetic against 55.1. 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, Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens?: Stoke-on-Trent, with 14.9 hours of civil night on December 15 against 14.9 in St Helens.
What Kp do Stoke-on-Trent and St Helens need?: By SWPC's rule of 66 degrees at Kp 0 and 2 degrees per step, Stoke-on-Trent needs about Kp 6 and St Helens Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead.
When is it too light for aurora in Stoke-on-Trent and St Helens?: Stoke-on-Trent: never, every night has civil darkness. St Helens: never, every night has civil darkness.
Which is clearer, Stoke-on-Trent or St Helens?: Stoke-on-Trent, with 77% mean cloud in the months with 4 hours or more of civil night against 77% in St Helens (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.