Can you see the northern lights in Motherwell in February?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Motherwell have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Motherwell in February?

Motherwell averages 12.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 11 h 59 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Motherwell in February?

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

What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Motherwell?

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

Is February or March better in Motherwell?

By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.0 hours at Motherwell and March 2.5. February comes out ahead.

Motherwell · February 2027

Northern lights in Motherwell in February 2027

Answer

February gives Motherwell 12.9 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 4th darkest of its 12 months, under 77% mean cloud. 25% of February days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Motherwell.

12.9 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 55.79, -3.99; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

February against the rest of the year

3.1

3.0

2.5

2.1

1.5

0.8

1.1

1.6

2.4

2.9

3.4

3.5

February cloud at Motherwell averages 77% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 77%. May is Motherwell's clearest month at 74%. By civil night times clear sky, February scores 3.0 hours at Motherwell, 4th of 12. Glasgow, 19 km away, averages 76%, clearer by 1 points.

Civil night at Motherwell starts February at 13 h 50 min and reaches 11 h 59 min by February 28, 1.9 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 10.0 hours on the 15th.

February night by night

February opens toward a new moon on Feb 6, with full moon on Feb 20, in Europe/London dates. Motherwell gets 193 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: Feb 1 (4 h), Feb 2 (4 h), Feb 3 (4 h).

1
18% lit
13.0 h
2
12% lit
13.7 h
3
6% lit
13.7 h
4
3% lit
13.7 h
5
0% lit
13.6 h
6
0% lit
13.5 h
New
7
2% lit
13.1 h
8
5% lit
11.7 h
9
10% lit
10.4 h
10
17% lit
9.0 h
11
26% lit
7.6 h
12
36% lit
6.1 h
13
46% lit
4.6 h
14
58% lit
3.1 h
15
69% lit
1.8 h
16
79% lit
0.8 h
17
88% lit
0.2 h
18
94% lit
0.0 h
19
99% lit
0.0 h
20
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
21
98% lit
0.5 h
22
94% lit
2.0 h
23
88% lit
3.5 h
24
80% lit
4.9 h
25
71% lit
6.3 h
26
62% lit
7.7 h
27
52% lit
8.9 h
28
43% lit
10.0 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 Februarys

Motherwell needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 211 of the 848 February days from 1996 to 2025 (25%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 6th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 8%. Motherwell sits at 58.1 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.

February across United Kingdom

Motherwell ranks 3rd in United Kingdom for civil night on February 15, behind Aberdeen at 13.0 hours. Coming from January (14.7 hours at Motherwell), February loses darkness, and March brings shorter nights (10.8 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on February 15 and February cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Aberdeen	13.0 h	78%
Isle of Lewis	13.0 h	87%
Motherwell	12.9 h	77%
Glasgow	12.9 h	76%
Edinburgh	12.9 h	77%
Newcastle upon Tyne	12.9 h	79%
Sunderland	12.9 h	79%
Dundee	12.9 h	80%
Manchester, England	12.8 h	79%
Sheffield	12.8 h	74%
Leeds	12.8 h	74%
Liverpool	12.8 h	79%

Darkness and moon, every night

Motherwell, February 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
Mon Feb 1	13 h 50 min	10 h 55 min	13 h 1 min	4 h	18%
Tue Feb 2	13 h 46 min	10 h 52 min	13 h 39 min	4 h	12%
Wed Feb 3	13 h 43 min	10 h 48 min	13 h 43 min	4 h	6%
Thu Feb 4	13 h 39 min	10 h 45 min	13 h 39 min	4 h	3%
Fri Feb 5	13 h 35 min	10 h 41 min	13 h 35 min	4 h	0%
Sat Feb 6	13 h 31 min	10 h 38 min	13 h 31 min	4 h	0%
Sun Feb 7	13 h 27 min	10 h 34 min	13 h 3 min	4 h	2%
Mon Feb 8	13 h 23 min	10 h 30 min	11 h 43 min	4 h	5%
Tue Feb 9	13 h 20 min	10 h 27 min	10 h 22 min	4 h	10%
Wed Feb 10	13 h 16 min	10 h 23 min	9 h	3 h 53 min	17%
Thu Feb 11	13 h 11 min	10 h 19 min	7 h 35 min	2 h 30 min	26%
Fri Feb 12	13 h 7 min	10 h 15 min	6 h 6 min	1 h 3 min	36%
Sat Feb 13	13 h 3 min	10 h 11 min	4 h 34 min	0 min	46%
Sun Feb 14	12 h 59 min	10 h 7 min	3 h 4 min	0 min	58%
Mon Feb 15	12 h 55 min	10 h 3 min	1 h 45 min	0 min	69%
Tue Feb 16	12 h 51 min	9 h 59 min	49 min	0 min	79%
Wed Feb 17	12 h 47 min	9 h 55 min	12 min	0 min	88%
Thu Feb 18	12 h 42 min	9 h 51 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Feb 19	12 h 38 min	9 h 47 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Sat Feb 20	12 h 34 min	9 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Feb 21	12 h 30 min	9 h 38 min	31 min	0 min	98%
Mon Feb 22	12 h 25 min	9 h 34 min	2 h 1 min	0 min	94%
Tue Feb 23	12 h 21 min	9 h 29 min	3 h 28 min	0 min	88%
Wed Feb 24	12 h 16 min	9 h 25 min	4 h 54 min	1 h 15 min	80%
Thu Feb 25	12 h 12 min	9 h 20 min	6 h 20 min	2 h 42 min	71%
Fri Feb 26	12 h 8 min	9 h 16 min	7 h 42 min	4 h	62%
Sat Feb 27	12 h 3 min	9 h 11 min	8 h 57 min	4 h	52%
Sun Feb 28	11 h 59 min	9 h 7 min	9 h 59 min	4 h	43%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Motherwell in February?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 28 of 28 nights at Motherwell have civil darkness, and 25% of past February days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Motherwell in February?: Motherwell averages 12.9 hours of civil night a night in February 2027, from 13 h 50 min on the 1st to 11 h 59 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Motherwell in February?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Motherwell's 1 degree cell 77% mean cloud in February, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in February 2027 for aurora in Motherwell?: By darkness and moon alone, Feb 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Motherwell. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is February or March better in Motherwell?: By civil night times the clear share, February scores 3.0 hours at Motherwell and March 2.5. February 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.