Can you see the northern lights in Fort William in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort William have civil darkness, and 21% of past January days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Fort William in January?

Fort William averages 14.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 21 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.

How cloudy is Fort William in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort William's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in January, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Fort William?

By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort William. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is January or February better in Fort William?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.5 hours at Fort William and February 2.5. January comes out ahead.

Fort William · January 2027

Northern lights in Fort William in January 2027

Answer

January gives Fort William 14.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 83% mean cloud. 21% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Fort William.

14.8 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 56.82, -5.11; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

2.5

2.3

2.0

1.3

0.6

0.8

1.3

2.1

2.6

2.7

3.1

January cloud at Fort William averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 3 points cloudier than its yearly mean. April is Fort William's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 2.5 hours at Fort William, 4th of 12. Glasgow, 118 km away, averages 80%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Fort William starts January at 15 h 21 min and reaches 14 h by January 31, 1.4 hours shorter. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.7 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Europe/London dates. Fort William gets 256 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: Jan 1 (4 h), Jan 2 (4 h), Jan 3 (4 h).

1
28% lit
11.4 h
2
20% lit
12.8 h
3
13% lit
14.1 h
4
7% lit
15.3 h
5
3% lit
15.3 h
6
1% lit
15.2 h
7
0% lit
15.2 h
New
8
1% lit
15.2 h
9
4% lit
14.3 h
10
9% lit
12.9 h
11
15% lit
11.6 h
12
22% lit
10.2 h
13
31% lit
8.9 h
14
41% lit
7.5 h
15
52% lit
6.0 h
16
62% lit
4.5 h
17
73% lit
2.9 h
18
83% lit
1.3 h
19
91% lit
0.1 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
0.9 h
24
91% lit
2.5 h
25
84% lit
4.1 h
26
75% lit
5.5 h
27
65% lit
7.0 h
28
55% lit
8.4 h
29
45% lit
9.8 h
30
35% lit
11.2 h
31
26% lit
12.3 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 Januarys

Fort William needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 196 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (21%) 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 6%. Fort William sits at 59.3 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 4, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

January across United Kingdom

Fort William ranks 2nd in United Kingdom for civil night on January 15, behind Isle of Lewis at 15.1 hours. Coming from December (15.4 hours at Fort William), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Isle of Lewis	15.1 h	89%
Fort William	14.9 h	83%
Aberdeen	14.9 h	79%
Edinburgh	14.8 h	79%
Dundee	14.8 h	82%
Glasgow	14.7 h	80%
Belfast	14.6 h	81%
Newcastle upon Tyne	14.6 h	79%
Sunderland	14.6 h	79%
Middlesbrough	14.6 h	79%
Manchester, England	14.5 h	82%
Leeds	14.5 h	76%

Darkness and moon, every night

Fort William, January 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
Fri Jan 1	15 h 21 min	12 h 9 min	11 h 25 min	4 h	28%
Sat Jan 2	15 h 19 min	12 h 8 min	12 h 48 min	4 h	20%
Sun Jan 3	15 h 18 min	12 h 6 min	14 h 7 min	4 h	13%
Mon Jan 4	15 h 16 min	12 h 5 min	15 h 15 min	4 h	7%
Tue Jan 5	15 h 15 min	12 h 4 min	15 h 15 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	15 h 13 min	12 h 2 min	15 h 13 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	15 h 11 min	12 h 1 min	15 h 11 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	15 h 9 min	11 h 59 min	15 h 9 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	15 h 7 min	11 h 57 min	14 h 16 min	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	15 h 5 min	11 h 55 min	12 h 54 min	4 h	9%
Mon Jan 11	15 h 2 min	11 h 53 min	11 h 34 min	4 h	15%
Tue Jan 12	15 h	11 h 51 min	10 h 14 min	4 h	22%
Wed Jan 13	14 h 57 min	11 h 49 min	8 h 54 min	2 h 56 min	31%
Thu Jan 14	14 h 55 min	11 h 47 min	7 h 30 min	1 h 33 min	41%
Fri Jan 15	14 h 52 min	11 h 45 min	6 h 2 min	6 min	52%
Sat Jan 16	14 h 49 min	11 h 43 min	4 h 28 min	0 min	62%
Sun Jan 17	14 h 47 min	11 h 40 min	2 h 51 min	0 min	73%
Mon Jan 18	14 h 44 min	11 h 38 min	1 h 20 min	0 min	83%
Tue Jan 19	14 h 41 min	11 h 35 min	9 min	0 min	91%
Wed Jan 20	14 h 38 min	11 h 33 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	14 h 35 min	11 h 30 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	14 h 31 min	11 h 27 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	14 h 28 min	11 h 24 min	56 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	14 h 25 min	11 h 21 min	2 h 33 min	0 min	91%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 21 min	11 h 18 min	4 h 5 min	0 min	84%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 18 min	11 h 15 min	5 h 33 min	57 min	75%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 14 min	11 h 12 min	6 h 59 min	2 h 24 min	65%
Thu Jan 28	14 h 11 min	11 h 9 min	8 h 24 min	3 h 52 min	55%
Fri Jan 29	14 h 7 min	11 h 6 min	9 h 48 min	4 h	45%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 3 min	11 h 2 min	11 h 9 min	4 h	35%
Sun Jan 31	14 h	10 h 59 min	12 h 21 min	4 h	26%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Fort William in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Fort William have civil darkness, and 21% of past January days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Fort William in January?: Fort William averages 14.8 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 21 min on the 1st to 14 h on the last night.
How cloudy is Fort William in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Fort William's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in January, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Fort William?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Fort William. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Fort William?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 2.5 hours at Fort William and February 2.5. January 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.