Can you see the northern lights in Reykjavík in July?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 6 of 31 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 9% of past July days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Reykjavík in July?

Reykjavík averages 0.3 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 2 h 30 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Reykjavík in July?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Reykjavík's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in July, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

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

By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 1 h 41 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Reykjavík. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is July or August better in Reykjavík?

By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Reykjavík and August 1.1. August comes out ahead.

Reykjavík · July 2027

Northern lights in Reykjavík in July 2027

Answer

July gives Reykjavík 0.0 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 11th darkest of its 12 months, under 83% mean cloud. 9% of July days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

0.3 h

civil night, average night

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

July 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

July cloud at Reykjavík averages 83% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 4 points cloudier than its yearly mean. December is Reykjavík's clearest month at 76%. By civil night times clear sky, July scores 0.0 hours at Reykjavík, 11th of 12. Hafnarfjörður, 8 km away, averages the same 83%.

Civil night at Reykjavík starts July at 0 min and reaches 2 h 30 min by July 31 as the nights lengthen by 2.5 hours. 25 Reykjavík nights this month have no civil darkness at all. No night keeps the 10 PM to 2 AM window fully dark at Reykjavík. The sun never reaches 18 degrees down, so Reykjavík gets no astronomical night in July.

July night by night

July opens toward a new moon on Jul 4, with full moon on Jul 18, in Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. Reykjavík gets 2 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: Jul 31 (1 h 41 min).

1
7% lit
no night
2
2% lit
no night
3
0% lit
no night
4
1% lit
no night
New
5
5% lit
no night
6
12% lit
no night
7
21% lit
no night
8
31% lit
no night
9
42% lit
no night
10
53% lit
no night
11
63% lit
no night
12
73% lit
no night
13
81% lit
no night
14
88% lit
no night
15
94% lit
no night
16
97% lit
no night
17
100% lit
no night
18
100% lit
no night
Full
19
98% lit
no night
20
95% lit
no night
21
90% lit
no night
22
84% lit
no night
23
76% lit
no night
24
67% lit
no night
25
57% lit
no night
26
47% lit
0.0 h
27
36% lit
0.0 h
28
26% lit
0.0 h
29
17% lit
0.0 h
30
9% lit
0.0 h
31
3% lit
1.7 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 Julys

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Reykjavík, so storm days matter more: 81 of the 930 July days from 1996 to 2025 (9%) reached Kp 5, 8th of 12 months. 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.

July across Iceland

No month-page town in Iceland has more civil night on July 15 than Reykjavík; the national median is 0.0 hours. Coming from June (0.0 hours at Reykjavík), July changes little, and the nights keep growing into August (5.3 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on July 15 and July cloud, month-page towns in Iceland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Reykjavík	0.0 h	83%
Hafnarfjörður	0.0 h	83%
Reykjanesbær	0.0 h	84%
Akureyri	0.0 h	85%

Darkness and moon, every night

Reykjavík, July 2027: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Thu Jul 1	0 min	0 min	0 min	7%
Fri Jul 2	0 min	0 min	0 min	2%
Sat Jul 3	0 min	0 min	0 min	0%
Sun Jul 4	0 min	0 min	0 min	1%
Mon Jul 5	0 min	0 min	0 min	5%
Tue Jul 6	0 min	0 min	0 min	12%
Wed Jul 7	0 min	0 min	0 min	21%
Thu Jul 8	0 min	0 min	0 min	31%
Fri Jul 9	0 min	0 min	0 min	42%
Sat Jul 10	0 min	0 min	0 min	53%
Sun Jul 11	0 min	0 min	0 min	63%
Mon Jul 12	0 min	0 min	0 min	73%
Tue Jul 13	0 min	0 min	0 min	81%
Wed Jul 14	0 min	0 min	0 min	88%
Thu Jul 15	0 min	0 min	0 min	94%
Fri Jul 16	0 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Sat Jul 17	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sun Jul 18	0 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Jul 19	0 min	0 min	0 min	98%
Tue Jul 20	0 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Wed Jul 21	0 min	0 min	0 min	90%
Thu Jul 22	0 min	0 min	0 min	84%
Fri Jul 23	0 min	0 min	0 min	76%
Sat Jul 24	0 min	0 min	0 min	67%
Sun Jul 25	0 min	0 min	0 min	57%
Mon Jul 26	40 min	0 min	0 min	47%
Tue Jul 27	1 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	36%
Wed Jul 28	1 h 39 min	0 min	0 min	26%
Thu Jul 29	1 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	17%
Fri Jul 30	2 h 15 min	0 min	0 min	9%
Sat Jul 31	2 h 30 min	1 h 44 min	1 h 41 min	3%

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 July?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 6 of 31 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 9% of past July days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Reykjavík in July?: Reykjavík averages 0.3 hours of civil night a night in July 2027, from 0 min on the 1st to 2 h 30 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Reykjavík in July?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Reykjavík's 1 degree cell 83% mean cloud in July, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in July 2027 for aurora in Reykjavík?: By darkness and moon alone, Jul 31, with 1 h 41 min of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Reykjavík. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is July or August better in Reykjavík?: By civil night times the clear share, July scores 0.0 hours at Reykjavík and August 1.1. August 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.