Can you see the northern lights in Reykjavík in January?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Reykjavík in January?

Reykjavík averages 16.0 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 51 min on the 1st to 14 h 53 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Reykjavík in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Reykjavík's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Reykjavík?

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

Is January or February better in Reykjavík?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.5 hours at Reykjavík and February 2.8. January comes out ahead.

Reykjavík · January 2027

Northern lights in Reykjavík in January 2027

Answer

January gives Reykjavík 16.1 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 6% of January days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

16.0 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 64.14, -21.90; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

3.5

2.8

2.1

1.3

0.2

0.0

1.1

1.8

2.7

3.4

4.1

January cloud at Reykjavík averages 78% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 79%. December is Reykjavík's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.5 hours at Reykjavík, 2nd of 12. Hafnarfjörður, 8 km away, averages the same 78%.

Civil night at Reykjavík starts January at 16 h 51 min and reaches 14 h 53 min by January 31, 2.0 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 12.1 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. Reykjavík gets 285 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
13.3 h
2
20% lit
15.3 h
3
13% lit
16.8 h
4
7% lit
16.7 h
5
3% lit
16.7 h
6
1% lit
16.6 h
7
0% lit
16.6 h
New
8
1% lit
16.6 h
9
4% lit
15.8 h
10
9% lit
14.1 h
11
15% lit
12.5 h
12
22% lit
10.9 h
13
31% lit
9.3 h
14
41% lit
7.7 h
15
52% lit
5.9 h
16
62% lit
3.9 h
17
73% lit
1.5 h
18
83% lit
0.0 h
19
91% lit
0.0 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
1.0 h
24
91% lit
2.9 h
25
84% lit
4.7 h
26
75% lit
6.4 h
27
65% lit
8.1 h
28
55% lit
9.9 h
29
45% lit
11.8 h
30
35% lit
15.0 h
31
26% lit
14.9 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.

Activity in past Januarys

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Reykjavík, so storm days matter more: 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) reached Kp 5, one of the three quietest months for that level. Reykjavík sits at 68.8 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 0.

January across Iceland

Reykjavík ranks 2nd in Iceland for civil night on January 15, behind Akureyri at 16.5 hours. Coming from December (17.0 hours at Reykjavík), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (13.5 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in Iceland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Akureyri	16.5 h	82%
Reykjavík	16.1 h	78%
Hafnarfjörður	16.1 h	78%
Reykjanesbær	16.1 h	86%

Darkness and moon, every night

Reykjavík, 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	16 h 51 min	12 h 39 min	13 h 18 min	4 h	28%
Sat Jan 2	16 h 49 min	12 h 37 min	15 h 19 min	4 h	20%
Sun Jan 3	16 h 47 min	12 h 36 min	16 h 47 min	4 h	13%
Mon Jan 4	16 h 44 min	12 h 34 min	16 h 44 min	4 h	7%
Tue Jan 5	16 h 42 min	12 h 32 min	16 h 42 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	16 h 39 min	12 h 30 min	16 h 39 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	16 h 36 min	12 h 28 min	16 h 36 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	16 h 33 min	12 h 26 min	16 h 33 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	16 h 30 min	12 h 23 min	15 h 51 min	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	16 h 26 min	12 h 21 min	14 h 8 min	4 h	9%
Mon Jan 11	16 h 23 min	12 h 18 min	12 h 31 min	4 h	15%
Tue Jan 12	16 h 19 min	12 h 15 min	10 h 56 min	3 h 11 min	22%
Wed Jan 13	16 h 16 min	12 h 12 min	9 h 21 min	1 h 37 min	31%
Thu Jan 14	16 h 12 min	12 h 9 min	7 h 42 min	0 min	41%
Fri Jan 15	16 h 8 min	12 h 6 min	5 h 54 min	0 min	52%
Sat Jan 16	16 h 4 min	12 h 3 min	3 h 54 min	0 min	62%
Sun Jan 17	16 h	12 h	1 h 30 min	0 min	73%
Mon Jan 18	15 h 56 min	11 h 57 min	0 min	0 min	83%
Tue Jan 19	15 h 51 min	11 h 53 min	0 min	0 min	91%
Wed Jan 20	15 h 47 min	11 h 50 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	15 h 42 min	11 h 46 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	15 h 38 min	11 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	15 h 33 min	11 h 38 min	58 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	15 h 28 min	11 h 34 min	2 h 54 min	0 min	91%
Mon Jan 25	15 h 23 min	11 h 30 min	4 h 41 min	38 min	84%
Tue Jan 26	15 h 18 min	11 h 26 min	6 h 24 min	2 h 24 min	75%
Wed Jan 27	15 h 13 min	11 h 22 min	8 h 6 min	4 h	65%
Thu Jan 28	15 h 8 min	11 h 17 min	9 h 52 min	4 h	55%
Fri Jan 29	15 h 3 min	11 h 13 min	11 h 48 min	4 h	45%
Sat Jan 30	14 h 58 min	11 h 9 min	14 h 58 min	4 h	35%
Sun Jan 31	14 h 53 min	11 h 4 min	14 h 53 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 Reykjavík in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Reykjavík in January?: Reykjavík averages 16.0 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 16 h 51 min on the 1st to 14 h 53 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Reykjavík in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Reykjavík's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in January, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in Reykjavík?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Reykjavík. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in Reykjavík?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.5 hours at Reykjavík and February 2.8. 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.