Can you see the northern lights in Akureyri in July?

Not in July 2027. The sun stays above -6 degrees every night at Akureyri, so there is no civil darkness.

How dark is Akureyri in July?

Akureyri averages 0.0 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Akureyri in July?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Akureyri's 1 degree cell 85% mean cloud in July, against 82% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Akureyri?

No night in July 2027 has moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Akureyri.

Is July or August better in Akureyri?

By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Akureyri and August 0.8. August comes out ahead.

Akureyri · July 2027

Northern lights in Akureyri in July 2027

Answer

Akureyri has no civil darkness in July 2027: the sun stays above -6 degrees on all 31 nights. SWPC notes that "It must also be dark so during the summer months at auroral latitudes, the midnight sun prevents auroral observations."

0.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 65.68, -18.09; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

July against the rest of the year

3.0

2.3

1.7

1.1

0.0

0.8

1.5

2.1

3.0

3.3

July cloud at Akureyri averages 85% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. June is Akureyri's clearest month at 80%. By civil night times clear sky, July scores 0.0 hours at Akureyri, 10th of 12. Reykjavík, 249 km away, averages 83%, clearer by 2 points.

The sun never gets 6 degrees below the horizon at Akureyri in July 2027, so every night is twilight or daylight. Darkness returns in August: 4.6 hours of civil night by the 15th.

July night by night

The moon runs its cycle as usual, new on Jul 4 and full on Jul 18, but with no civil night it makes no difference at Akureyri in July.

1
7% lit
no night
2
2% lit
no night
3
0% lit
no night
4
1% lit
no night
New
5
5% lit
no night
6
12% lit
no night
7
21% lit
no night
8
31% lit
no night
9
42% lit
no night
10
53% lit
no night
11
63% lit
no night
12
73% lit
no night
13
81% lit
no night
14
88% lit
no night
15
94% lit
no night
16
97% lit
no night
17
100% lit
no night
18
100% lit
no night
Full
19
98% lit
no night
20
95% lit
no night
21
90% lit
no night
22
84% lit
no night
23
76% lit
no night
24
67% lit
no night
25
57% lit
no night
26
47% lit
no night
27
36% lit
no night
28
26% lit
no night
29
17% lit
no night
30
9% lit
no night
31
3% lit
no night

Each cell is the night that starts on that date. Hours are civil-dark time with the moon below the horizon; the green rule scales with them. Green outline: new moon. Bone outline: full moon.

Activity in past Julys

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Akureyri, so storm days matter more: 81 of the 930 July days from 1996 to 2025 (9%) reached Kp 5, 8th of 12 months. Akureyri sits at 69.7 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 0.

July across Iceland

No month-page town in Iceland has more civil night on July 15 than Akureyri; the national median is 0.0 hours. Coming from June (0.0 hours at Akureyri), July changes little, and the nights keep growing into August (4.6 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on July 15 and July cloud, month-page towns in Iceland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Akureyri	0.0 h	85%
Reykjavík	0.0 h	83%
Hafnarfjörður	0.0 h	83%
Reykjanesbær	0.0 h	84%

Darkness and moon, every night

Akureyri, July 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Jul 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	7%
Fri Jul 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	2%
Sat Jul 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Sun Jul 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Mon Jul 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	5%
Tue Jul 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	12%
Wed Jul 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	21%
Thu Jul 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	31%
Fri Jul 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	42%
Sat Jul 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	53%
Sun Jul 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	63%
Mon Jul 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	73%
Tue Jul 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Wed Jul 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Thu Jul 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Jul 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sat Jul 17	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Jul 18	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Jul 19	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Jul 20	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Wed Jul 21	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Jul 22	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Jul 23	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	76%
Sat Jul 24	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	67%
Sun Jul 25	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Mon Jul 26	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Tue Jul 27	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	36%
Wed Jul 28	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	26%
Thu Jul 29	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	17%
Fri Jul 30	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	9%
Sat Jul 31	0 min	0 min	0 min	0 min	3%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Akureyri in July?: Not in July 2027. The sun stays above -6 degrees every night at Akureyri, so there is no civil darkness.
How dark is Akureyri in July?: Akureyri averages 0.0 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 0 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Akureyri in July?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Akureyri's 1 degree cell 85% mean cloud in July, against 82% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Akureyri?: No night in July 2027 has moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Akureyri.
Is July or August better in Akureyri?: By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Akureyri and August 0.8. August comes out ahead.

Sources and verification

SunCalchttps://github.com/mourner/suncalc
NASA POWER climatologyhttps://power.larc.nasa.gov/docs/services/api/temporal/climatology/
GFZ Potsdam Kp indexhttps://kp.gfz.de/en/data
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.