Can you see the northern lights in Peterhead in March?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Peterhead have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Peterhead in March?

Peterhead averages 10.7 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 56 min on the 1st to 9 h 25 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Peterhead in March?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Peterhead's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in March, against 81% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Peterhead?

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

Is March or April better in Peterhead?

By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Peterhead and April 1.9. March comes out ahead.

Peterhead · March 2027

Northern lights in Peterhead in March 2027

Answer

March gives Peterhead 10.8 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 6th darkest of its 12 months, under 81% mean cloud. 29% of March days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Peterhead.

10.7 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 57.51, -1.78; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

March against the rest of the year

2.3

2.2

2.1

1.9

1.4

0.6

0.9

1.3

2.0

2.2

2.3

March cloud at Peterhead averages 81% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 81%. May is Peterhead's clearest month at 74%. By civil night times clear sky, March scores 2.1 hours at Peterhead, 6th of 12. Aberdeen, 44 km away, averages 78%, clearer by 3 points.

Civil night at Peterhead starts March at 11 h 56 min and reaches 9 h 25 min by March 31, 2.5 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 7.6 hours on the 15th.

March night by night

March opens toward a new moon on Mar 8, with full moon on Mar 22, in Europe/London dates. Peterhead gets 189 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: Mar 1 (4 h), Mar 2 (4 h), Mar 3 (4 h).

1
33% lit
11.1 h
2
25% lit
11.5 h
3
17% lit
11.7 h
4
11% lit
11.7 h
5
5% lit
11.6 h
6
2% lit
11.5 h
7
0% lit
11.4 h
8
0% lit
11.4 h
New
9
3% lit
10.2 h
10
7% lit
8.7 h
11
14% lit
7.2 h
12
22% lit
5.5 h
13
32% lit
4.0 h
14
42% lit
2.5 h
15
54% lit
1.5 h
16
65% lit
0.8 h
17
76% lit
0.4 h
18
85% lit
0.2 h
19
92% lit
0.0 h
20
97% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
1.5 h
24
92% lit
3.0 h
25
86% lit
4.5 h
26
78% lit
5.9 h
27
69% lit
7.1 h
28
60% lit
8.0 h
29
51% lit
8.5 h
30
41% lit
8.8 h
31
32% lit
9.0 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 Marchs

Peterhead needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 268 of the 930 March days from 1996 to 2025 (29%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Peterhead sits at 59.4 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.

March across United Kingdom

Peterhead ranks 21st in United Kingdom for civil night on March 15, behind Manchester, England at 10.9 hours. Coming from February (13.0 hours at Peterhead), March loses darkness, and April brings shorter nights (8.1 hours on the 15th). The March equinox falls on March 20, 20:25 Peterhead time, inside the weeks SWPC links with larger storms.

Civil night on March 15 and March cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Manchester, England	10.9 h	76%
Sheffield	10.9 h	73%
Leeds	10.9 h	73%
Liverpool	10.9 h	76%
Belfast	10.9 h	76%
Kingston upon Hull	10.9 h	73%
Preston	10.9 h	76%
Stoke-on-Trent	10.9 h	76%
St Helens	10.9 h	76%
Mansfield	10.9 h	73%
York	10.9 h	73%
Burnley	10.9 h	76%
Peterhead	10.8 h	81%

Darkness and moon, every night

Peterhead, March 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 Mar 1	11 h 56 min	8 h 55 min	11 h 4 min	4 h	33%
Tue Mar 2	11 h 51 min	8 h 50 min	11 h 29 min	4 h	25%
Wed Mar 3	11 h 46 min	8 h 45 min	11 h 43 min	4 h	17%
Thu Mar 4	11 h 41 min	8 h 40 min	11 h 41 min	4 h	11%
Fri Mar 5	11 h 37 min	8 h 35 min	11 h 37 min	4 h	5%
Sat Mar 6	11 h 32 min	8 h 29 min	11 h 32 min	4 h	2%
Sun Mar 7	11 h 27 min	8 h 24 min	11 h 27 min	4 h	0%
Mon Mar 8	11 h 22 min	8 h 19 min	11 h 22 min	4 h	0%
Tue Mar 9	11 h 17 min	8 h 13 min	10 h 10 min	4 h	3%
Wed Mar 10	11 h 12 min	8 h 8 min	8 h 41 min	4 h	7%
Thu Mar 11	11 h 7 min	8 h 2 min	7 h 9 min	3 h 18 min	14%
Fri Mar 12	11 h 2 min	7 h 57 min	5 h 32 min	1 h 45 min	22%
Sat Mar 13	10 h 57 min	7 h 51 min	3 h 57 min	12 min	32%
Sun Mar 14	10 h 52 min	7 h 45 min	2 h 31 min	0 min	42%
Mon Mar 15	10 h 47 min	7 h 40 min	1 h 28 min	0 min	54%
Tue Mar 16	10 h 42 min	7 h 34 min	49 min	0 min	65%
Wed Mar 17	10 h 37 min	7 h 28 min	26 min	0 min	76%
Thu Mar 18	10 h 32 min	7 h 22 min	10 min	0 min	85%
Fri Mar 19	10 h 27 min	7 h 16 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Sat Mar 20	10 h 22 min	7 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sun Mar 21	10 h 17 min	7 h 3 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Mar 22	10 h 12 min	6 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Mar 23	10 h 7 min	6 h 51 min	1 h 29 min	0 min	97%
Wed Mar 24	10 h 2 min	6 h 44 min	3 h	12 min	92%
Thu Mar 25	9 h 56 min	6 h 38 min	4 h 29 min	1 h 43 min	86%
Fri Mar 26	9 h 51 min	6 h 31 min	5 h 54 min	3 h 10 min	78%
Sat Mar 27	9 h 46 min	6 h 25 min	7 h 6 min	3 h	69%
Sun Mar 28	9 h 41 min	6 h 18 min	7 h 58 min	4 h	60%
Mon Mar 29	9 h 36 min	6 h 11 min	8 h 30 min	4 h	51%
Tue Mar 30	9 h 31 min	6 h 4 min	8 h 48 min	4 h	41%
Wed Mar 31	9 h 25 min	5 h 57 min	8 h 58 min	4 h	32%

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

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Peterhead in March?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Peterhead have civil darkness, and 29% of past March days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Peterhead in March?: Peterhead averages 10.7 hours of civil night a night in March 2027, from 11 h 56 min on the 1st to 9 h 25 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Peterhead in March?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Peterhead's 1 degree cell 81% mean cloud in March, against 81% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in March 2027 for aurora in Peterhead?: By darkness and moon alone, Mar 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Peterhead. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is March or April better in Peterhead?: By civil night times the clear share, March scores 2.1 hours at Peterhead and April 1.9. March 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.