Can you see the northern lights in Isle of Lewis in May?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Isle of Lewis have civil darkness, and 47% of past May days reached Kp 3.

How dark is Isle of Lewis in May?

Isle of Lewis averages 5.1 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 6 h 28 min on the 1st to 3 h 44 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Isle of Lewis in May?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Isle of Lewis's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in May, against 85% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Isle of Lewis?

By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 3 h 52 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Isle of Lewis. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is May or June better in Isle of Lewis?

By civil night times the clear share, May scores 1.0 hours at Isle of Lewis and June 0.4. May comes out ahead.

Isle of Lewis · May 2027

Northern lights in Isle of Lewis in May 2027

Answer

May gives Isle of Lewis 5.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 10th darkest of its 12 months, under 80% mean cloud. 47% of May days since 1996 reached Kp 3, enough for the oval edge to reach Isle of Lewis.

5.1 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 58.22, -6.39; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

May against the rest of the year

1.7

1.5

1.0

0.4

0.5

1.0

1.6

1.8

1.7

May cloud at Isle of Lewis averages 80% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 5 points clearer than its yearly mean. No month at Isle of Lewis is clearer. By civil night times clear sky, May scores 1.0 hours at Isle of Lewis, 9th of 12. Aberdeen, 282 km away, averages 76%, clearer by 4 points.

Civil night at Isle of Lewis starts May at 6 h 28 min and reaches 3 h 44 min by May 31, 2.7 hours shorter. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Isle of Lewis. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Isle of Lewis gets no astronomical night in May.

May night by night

May opens toward a new moon on May 6, with full moon on May 20, in Europe/London dates. Isle of Lewis gets 82 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: May 1 (3 h 52 min), May 2 (3 h 49 min), May 3 (3 h 46 min).

1
22% lit
6.1 h
2
14% lit
6.2 h
3
8% lit
6.2 h
4
3% lit
6.2 h
5
1% lit
6.1 h
6
1% lit
5.9 h
New
7
3% lit
4.3 h
8
8% lit
2.9 h
9
16% lit
2.0 h
10
25% lit
1.5 h
11
36% lit
1.2 h
12
47% lit
0.9 h
13
59% lit
0.8 h
14
69% lit
0.7 h
15
79% lit
0.6 h
16
87% lit
0.4 h
17
93% lit
0.3 h
18
97% lit
0.1 h
19
100% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.2 h
Full
21
98% lit
1.3 h
22
94% lit
2.1 h
23
89% lit
2.5 h
24
82% lit
2.8 h
25
74% lit
2.9 h
26
65% lit
3.0 h
27
56% lit
3.0 h
28
46% lit
3.0 h
29
37% lit
3.0 h
30
27% lit
3.1 h
31
18% lit
3.1 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 Mays

Isle of Lewis needs Kp 3 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 436 of the 930 May days from 1996 to 2025 (47%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 9th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Isle of Lewis sits at 60.8 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 3.

May across United Kingdom

Isle of Lewis ranks 27th in United Kingdom for civil night on May 15, behind Stoke-on-Trent at 6.5 hours. Coming from April (8.0 hours at Isle of Lewis), May loses darkness, and June brings shorter nights (2.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on May 15 and May cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Stoke-on-Trent	6.5 h	72%
Mansfield	6.5 h	71%
Chesterfield	6.5 h	71%
Lincoln	6.5 h	71%
Manchester, England	6.4 h	72%
Sheffield	6.4 h	71%
Leeds	6.4 h	71%
Liverpool	6.4 h	72%
Kingston upon Hull	6.4 h	71%
Preston	6.4 h	72%
St Helens	6.4 h	72%
Burnley	6.4 h	72%
Isle of Lewis	5.1 h	80%

Darkness and moon, every night

Isle of Lewis, May 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sat May 1	6 h 28 min	6 h 8 min	3 h 52 min	22%
Sun May 2	6 h 22 min	6 h 9 min	3 h 49 min	14%
Mon May 3	6 h 17 min	6 h 11 min	3 h 46 min	8%
Tue May 4	6 h 11 min	6 h 11 min	3 h 43 min	3%
Wed May 5	6 h 5 min	6 h 5 min	3 h 41 min	1%
Thu May 6	5 h 59 min	5 h 54 min	3 h 32 min	1%
Fri May 7	5 h 54 min	4 h 15 min	1 h 57 min	3%
Sat May 8	5 h 48 min	2 h 54 min	38 min	8%
Sun May 9	5 h 42 min	2 h	0 min	16%
Mon May 10	5 h 36 min	1 h 29 min	0 min	25%
Tue May 11	5 h 31 min	1 h 10 min	0 min	36%
Wed May 12	5 h 25 min	57 min	0 min	47%
Thu May 13	5 h 19 min	48 min	0 min	59%
Fri May 14	5 h 14 min	41 min	0 min	69%
Sat May 15	5 h 8 min	33 min	0 min	79%
Sun May 16	5 h 2 min	26 min	0 min	87%
Mon May 17	4 h 57 min	18 min	0 min	93%
Tue May 18	4 h 51 min	7 min	0 min	97%
Wed May 19	4 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Thu May 20	4 h 40 min	10 min	10 min	100%
Fri May 21	4 h 35 min	1 h 19 min	1 h 19 min	98%
Sat May 22	4 h 29 min	2 h 6 min	2 h 6 min	94%
Sun May 23	4 h 24 min	2 h 33 min	2 h 33 min	89%
Mon May 24	4 h 19 min	2 h 47 min	2 h 47 min	82%
Tue May 25	4 h 13 min	2 h 55 min	2 h 44 min	74%
Wed May 26	4 h 8 min	2 h 58 min	2 h 42 min	65%
Thu May 27	4 h 3 min	3 h 1 min	2 h 39 min	56%
Fri May 28	3 h 58 min	3 h 2 min	2 h 36 min	46%
Sat May 29	3 h 53 min	3 h 3 min	2 h 34 min	37%
Sun May 30	3 h 48 min	3 h 4 min	2 h 31 min	27%
Mon May 31	3 h 44 min	3 h 7 min	2 h 29 min	18%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Isle of Lewis in May?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Isle of Lewis have civil darkness, and 47% of past May days reached Kp 3.
How dark is Isle of Lewis in May?: Isle of Lewis averages 5.1 hours of civil night a night in May 2027, from 6 h 28 min on the 1st to 3 h 44 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Isle of Lewis in May?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Isle of Lewis's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in May, against 85% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in May 2027 for aurora in Isle of Lewis?: By darkness and moon alone, May 1, with 3 h 52 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Isle of Lewis. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is May or June better in Isle of Lewis?: By civil night times the clear share, May scores 1.0 hours at Isle of Lewis and June 0.4. May 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.