Uusimaa, Finland
Northern lights in Helsinki
Answer
Tonight
Waiting on darkness
It is not civil-dark yet. The next dusk is listed below.
Observed 11:55 UTC, forecast 13:26 UTC, 91 min lead
Clock times in Europe/Helsinki
Storm level needed
Helsinki sits at 60.17N 24.94E in Uusimaa, Finland. The IGRF-14 centered dipole puts Helsinki at 57.7 degrees geomagnetic latitude, 2.4 degrees farther from the magnetic pole than its map latitude suggests. Helsinki sits at 57.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.
"aurora is commonly visible at high latitudes (northern Michigan and Maine)"
The nearest other Glow towns are Vantaa (15 km), Espoo (16 km), Klaukkala (26 km). Vantaa sits 0.1 degrees higher on the dipole and needs the same Kp.
Approximate: SWPC calls its Kp to latitude rule an average, and a centered dipole can differ by a degree from fuller field models. How the storm level is matched
The year in darkness
From June 16 to June 25 the sun never reaches -6 degrees, so 10 nights in 2026 have no civil darkness at all. SWPC puts it plainly: "It must also be dark so during the summer months at auroral latitudes, the midnight sun prevents auroral observations." Glow's dark season, at least 4 hours of civil night between 18:00 and 06:00, runs from July 24 to May 18 across New Year, 299 days in 2026. Helsinki's longest night of the year, Dec 19, has 16 h 5 min of civil night.
Solar midnight at Helsinki, when the sun is lowest, falls at 00:15 on local clocks on December 15 and 01:20 on June 15. That is 15 min after midnight in December and 1 h 20 min after midnight in June, the gap set by daylight saving and the equation of time. So at Helsinki the darkest hour sits near the middle of SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window in winter.
Month by month
| Month | Night | Civil | Cloud | Clear dark | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan | 15.4 h | 11.9 h | 82% | 2.8 h | |
| Feb | 13.2 h | 9.9 h | 79% | 2.8 h | |
| Mar | 10.7 h | 7.3 h | 69% | 3.3 hbest | |
| Apr | 7.7 h | 2.3 h | 67% | 2.5 h | |
| May | 4.3 h | 0.0 h | 62% | 1.7 h | |
| Jun | 0.2 h | 0.0 h | 66% | 0.1 h | |
| Jul | 2.9 h | 0.0 h | 64% | 1.0 h | |
| Aug | 6.5 h | 0.0 h | 63% | 2.4 h | |
| Sep | 9.6 h | 5.8 h | 67% | 3.2 h | |
| Oct | 12.3 h | 9.1 h | 78% | 2.7 h | |
| Nov | 14.7 h | 11.4 h | 85% | 2.2 h | |
| Dec | 16.0 h | 12.4 h | 85% | 2.4 h |
By the 15th-of-the-month sample, December is the darkest month at Helsinki with 16.0 hours of civil night and June the lightest at 0.2. Across the year Helsinki gets 3,456 hours of civil night. Astronomical night at Helsinki, the sun 18 degrees or more below the horizon, lasts 12.4 hours on December 15.
NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology puts mean cloud amount for the 1 degree cell around Helsinki at 72% across the year, from 62% in May to 85% in November. In the months with at least 4 hours of civil night Helsinki averages 74%, against a median of 76% for Glow towns in Finland.
Multiplying civil night by the clear share of the sky gives March the best score, 3.3 hours, ahead of September at 3.2. Helsinki's equinox months score 3.3 in March and 3.2 in September, the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.
Kp history
From 1996 to 2025, the GFZ Potsdam record shows a 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge over Helsinki, on 10% of days. At Helsinki's level the share runs from 5% in December to 14% in September, while storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%.
Share of UTC days in each calendar month whose highest 3-hour Kp reached Kp 5. Kp history by year
Moon, next 30 nights
Over the 30 nights from Oct 2, the new moon falls on Oct 10 and the full moon on Oct 26, in Europe/Helsinki dates. 15 of the 30 nights at Helsinki have at least 2 moon-free dark hours inside 10 PM to 2 AM, and Oct 6 has the most at 4 h. Tonight Helsinki has 11 h 9 min of civil night, 32 min of it with the moon down.
- 2
58% lit
0.5 h
- 3
47% lit
2.1 h
- 4
35% lit
4.0 h
- 5
25% lit
5.8 h
- 6
16% lit
7.5 h
- 7
9% lit
9.2 h
- 8
4% lit
10.8 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
11.9 h
- 12
5% lit
12.0 h
- 13
10% lit
12.1 h
- 14
17% lit
12.2 h
- 15
25% lit
12.3 h
- 16
33% lit
12.1 h
- 17
43% lit
10.8 h
- 18
52% lit
9.3 h
- 19
62% lit
7.8 h
- 20
71% lit
6.3 h
- 21
79% lit
4.8 h
- 22
87% lit
3.3 h
- 23
93% lit
1.8 h
- 24
98% lit
0.2 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
96% lit
0.0 h
- 28
90% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
72% lit
1.1 h
- 31
61% lit
2.9 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.
Within Finland
Among the 13 Glow towns in Uusimaa, Helsinki ranks 13th by dipole latitude against a regional median of 57.9 degrees; Hyvinge sits highest at 58.2. Among the 65 Glow towns in Finland, Helsinki ranks 64th by dipole latitude against a national median of 59.0 degrees; Rovaniemi sits highest at 63.6. On December 15 Helsinki gets 16.0 hours of civil night, 64th longest of 65 in Finland, where the median is 16.3.
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Helsinki?
- Helsinki sits at 57.7 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less. Clear, dark sky over Helsinki still decides it.
- When is it dark enough in Helsinki?
- Civil night, the sun at -6 degrees or lower, is missing from Jun 16 to Jun 25. Tonight has 11 h 9 min of it.
- What is the best month for aurora in Helsinki?
- March, by civil night at Helsinki times the clear share of the sky from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 average.
- How cloudy is Helsinki in the dark months?
- About 74% mean cloud amount over Helsinki in the months with at least 4 hours of civil night, from NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 all-hours climatology.
- How often is activity high enough for Helsinki?
- A 3-hour Kp of 5 or more, the level that puts the average oval edge overhead, occurred on 10% of days from 1996 to 2025 in the GFZ Potsdam record.
Nearby and related
Nearest Glow towns
Helsinki by month
Region and comparisons