Can you see the northern lights in Altrincham in December?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Altrincham have civil darkness, and 1% of past December days reached Kp 6.

How dark is Altrincham in December?

Altrincham averages 14.9 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 14 h 38 min on the 1st to 14 h 52 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Altrincham in December?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Altrincham's 1 degree cell 82% mean cloud in December, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Altrincham?

By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Altrincham. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is December or January better in Altrincham?

By civil night times the clear share, December scores 2.7 hours at Altrincham and January 2.6. December comes out ahead.

Altrincham · December 2026

Northern lights in Altrincham in December 2026

Answer

December gives Altrincham 14.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the darkest month of its year, under 82% mean cloud. 1% of December days since 1996 reached Kp 6, enough for the oval edge to reach Altrincham.

14.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 53.39, -2.35; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

December against the rest of the year

2.6

2.7

2.6

2.3

1.8

1.3

1.4

1.8

2.5

2.7

December cloud at Altrincham averages 82% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is Altrincham's clearest month at 72%. By civil night times clear sky, December scores 2.7 hours at Altrincham, 2nd of 12. Manchester, England, 13 km away, averages the same 82%.

Civil night at Altrincham starts December at 14 h 38 min and reaches 14 h 52 min by December 31 as the nights lengthen by 0.2 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 12.0 hours on the 15th.

December night by night

December opens toward a new moon on Dec 9, with full moon on Dec 24, in Europe/London dates. Altrincham gets 248 hours of civil night with the moon below the horizon across the month. The best of them for moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM: Dec 3 (4 h), Dec 4 (4 h), Dec 5 (4 h).

1
42% lit
7.9 h
2
32% lit
9.3 h
3
23% lit
10.6 h
4
15% lit
11.9 h
5
9% lit
13.2 h
6
4% lit
14.5 h
7
1% lit
14.8 h
8
0% lit
14.8 h
9
1% lit
14.8 h
New
10
4% lit
14.9 h
11
8% lit
13.9 h
12
13% lit
12.7 h
13
21% lit
11.5 h
14
29% lit
10.3 h
15
38% lit
9.0 h
16
48% lit
7.8 h
17
58% lit
6.5 h
18
68% lit
5.2 h
19
78% lit
3.7 h
20
87% lit
2.2 h
21
94% lit
0.7 h
22
98% lit
0.0 h
23
100% lit
0.0 h
24
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
94% lit
1.0 h
26
88% lit
2.6 h
27
79% lit
4.1 h
28
69% lit
5.6 h
29
58% lit
6.9 h
30
48% lit
8.3 h
31
38% lit
9.6 h

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 Decembers

Altrincham needs Kp 6 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 11 of the 930 December days from 1996 to 2025 (1%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 5%. Altrincham sits at 55.5 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.

December across United Kingdom

Altrincham ranks 21st in United Kingdom for civil night on December 15, behind Isle of Lewis at 15.7 hours. Coming from November (14.0 hours at Altrincham), December adds darkness, and January brings shorter nights (14.4 hours on the 15th). The December solstice falls on December 21, 20:49 Altrincham time.

Civil night on December 15 and December cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Isle of Lewis	15.7 h	89%
Aberdeen	15.5 h	78%
Dundee	15.4 h	82%
Glasgow	15.3 h	78%
Edinburgh	15.3 h	77%
Newcastle upon Tyne	15.2 h	77%
Belfast	15.1 h	80%
Sunderland	15.1 h	77%
Middlesbrough	15.1 h	77%
Manchester, England	15.0 h	82%
Leeds	15.0 h	72%
Kingston upon Hull	15.0 h	72%
Altrincham	14.9 h	82%

Darkness and moon, every night

Altrincham, December 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Tue Dec 1	14 h 38 min	11 h 46 min	7 h 55 min	2 h 34 min	42%
Wed Dec 2	14 h 40 min	11 h 47 min	9 h 15 min	3 h 54 min	32%
Thu Dec 3	14 h 42 min	11 h 49 min	10 h 34 min	4 h	23%
Fri Dec 4	14 h 43 min	11 h 50 min	11 h 53 min	4 h	15%
Sat Dec 5	14 h 45 min	11 h 52 min	13 h 11 min	4 h	9%
Sun Dec 6	14 h 46 min	11 h 53 min	14 h 29 min	4 h	4%
Mon Dec 7	14 h 48 min	11 h 54 min	14 h 48 min	4 h	1%
Tue Dec 8	14 h 49 min	11 h 55 min	14 h 49 min	4 h	0%
Wed Dec 9	14 h 50 min	11 h 56 min	14 h 50 min	4 h	1%
Thu Dec 10	14 h 52 min	11 h 57 min	14 h 52 min	4 h	4%
Fri Dec 11	14 h 53 min	11 h 58 min	13 h 56 min	4 h	8%
Sat Dec 12	14 h 54 min	11 h 59 min	12 h 44 min	4 h	13%
Sun Dec 13	14 h 54 min	12 h	11 h 29 min	4 h	21%
Mon Dec 14	14 h 55 min	12 h	10 h 15 min	4 h	29%
Tue Dec 15	14 h 56 min	12 h 1 min	9 h 1 min	3 h 28 min	38%
Wed Dec 16	14 h 56 min	12 h 1 min	7 h 47 min	2 h 13 min	48%
Thu Dec 17	14 h 57 min	12 h 1 min	6 h 30 min	56 min	58%
Fri Dec 18	14 h 57 min	12 h 2 min	5 h 9 min	0 min	68%
Sat Dec 19	14 h 57 min	12 h 2 min	3 h 43 min	0 min	78%
Sun Dec 20	14 h 58 min	12 h 2 min	2 h 12 min	0 min	87%
Mon Dec 21	14 h 58 min	12 h 2 min	42 min	0 min	94%
Tue Dec 22	14 h 57 min	12 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Wed Dec 23	14 h 57 min	12 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu Dec 24	14 h 57 min	12 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Fri Dec 25	14 h 57 min	12 h 1 min	1 h 1 min	0 min	94%
Sat Dec 26	14 h 56 min	12 h 1 min	2 h 36 min	0 min	88%
Sun Dec 27	14 h 56 min	12 h 1 min	4 h 8 min	0 min	79%
Mon Dec 28	14 h 55 min	12 h	5 h 34 min	18 min	69%
Tue Dec 29	14 h 54 min	11 h 59 min	6 h 56 min	1 h 40 min	58%
Wed Dec 30	14 h 53 min	11 h 59 min	8 h 15 min	3 h 1 min	48%
Thu Dec 31	14 h 52 min	11 h 58 min	9 h 34 min	4 h	38%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Altrincham in December?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Altrincham have civil darkness, and 1% of past December days reached Kp 6.
How dark is Altrincham in December?: Altrincham averages 14.9 hours of civil night a night in December 2026, from 14 h 38 min on the 1st to 14 h 52 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Altrincham in December?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Altrincham's 1 degree cell 82% mean cloud in December, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in December 2026 for aurora in Altrincham?: By darkness and moon alone, Dec 3, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Altrincham. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is December or January better in Altrincham?: By civil night times the clear share, December scores 2.7 hours at Altrincham and January 2.6. December 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.