Can you see the northern lights in Reykjavík in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.

How dark is Reykjavík in November?

Reykjavík averages 15.3 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 7 min on the 1st to 16 h 25 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Reykjavík in November?

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

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Reykjavík?

By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, 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 November or December better in Reykjavík?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.4 hours at Reykjavík and December 4.1. December comes out ahead.

Reykjavík · November 2026

Northern lights in Reykjavík in November 2026

Answer

November gives Reykjavík 15.4 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 78% mean cloud. 10% of November days since 1996 reached storm level, Kp 5.

15.3 h

civil night, average night

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

November 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

November 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, November scores 3.4 hours at Reykjavík, 3rd of 12. Hafnarfjörður, 8 km away, averages the same 78%.

Civil night at Reykjavík starts November at 14 h 7 min and reaches 16 h 25 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 2.3 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.5 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in Atlantic/Reykjavik dates. Reykjavík gets 239 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: Nov 3 (4 h), Nov 4 (4 h), Nov 5 (4 h).

1
48% lit
4.6 h
2
37% lit
6.6 h
3
27% lit
8.4 h
4
18% lit
10.1 h
5
11% lit
11.8 h
6
5% lit
13.6 h
7
2% lit
14.7 h
8
0% lit
14.8 h
9
1% lit
14.8 h
New
10
3% lit
14.9 h
11
7% lit
15.0 h
12
12% lit
15.1 h
13
19% lit
15.2 h
14
27% lit
14.0 h
15
36% lit
12.0 h
16
45% lit
10.3 h
17
55% lit
8.7 h
18
65% lit
7.1 h
19
74% lit
5.5 h
20
83% lit
3.8 h
21
91% lit
2.0 h
22
96% lit
0.0 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.0 h
27
84% lit
0.7 h
28
74% lit
3.1 h
29
64% lit
5.2 h
30
53% lit
7.1 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 Novembers

Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Reykjavík, so storm days matter more: 93 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (10%) reached Kp 5, 7th 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.

November across Iceland

Reykjavík ranks 2nd in Iceland for civil night on November 15, behind Akureyri at 15.7 hours. Coming from October (12.5 hours at Reykjavík), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (17.0 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in Iceland
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Akureyri	15.7 h	81%
Reykjavík	15.4 h	78%
Hafnarfjörður	15.3 h	78%
Reykjanesbær	15.3 h	84%

Darkness and moon, every night

Reykjavík, November 2026: each night from local noon to the next noon
Night	Civil	Astronomical	Moon-free dark	Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM	Moon lit
Sun Nov 1	14 h 7 min	10 h 23 min	4 h 36 min	44 min	48%
Mon Nov 2	14 h 13 min	10 h 28 min	6 h 35 min	2 h 40 min	37%
Tue Nov 3	14 h 18 min	10 h 33 min	8 h 24 min	4 h	27%
Wed Nov 4	14 h 24 min	10 h 38 min	10 h 8 min	4 h	18%
Thu Nov 5	14 h 29 min	10 h 43 min	11 h 50 min	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	14 h 35 min	10 h 48 min	13 h 34 min	4 h	5%
Sat Nov 7	14 h 40 min	10 h 53 min	14 h 40 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	14 h 45 min	10 h 58 min	14 h 45 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	14 h 51 min	11 h 2 min	14 h 51 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	14 h 56 min	11 h 7 min	14 h 56 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	15 h 1 min	11 h 11 min	15 h 1 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	15 h 6 min	11 h 16 min	15 h 6 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	15 h 11 min	11 h 20 min	15 h 11 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	15 h 16 min	11 h 24 min	14 h 1 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	15 h 21 min	11 h 28 min	12 h	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	15 h 26 min	11 h 32 min	10 h 16 min	3 h 20 min	45%
Tue Nov 17	15 h 31 min	11 h 36 min	8 h 40 min	1 h 41 min	55%
Wed Nov 18	15 h 36 min	11 h 40 min	7 h 5 min	4 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	15 h 40 min	11 h 44 min	5 h 29 min	0 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	15 h 45 min	11 h 48 min	3 h 49 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	15 h 49 min	11 h 51 min	1 h 59 min	0 min	91%
Sun Nov 22	15 h 53 min	11 h 55 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	15 h 58 min	11 h 58 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	16 h 2 min	12 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	16 h 6 min	12 h 5 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	16 h 10 min	12 h 8 min	0 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	16 h 14 min	12 h 11 min	41 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	16 h 17 min	12 h 14 min	3 h 8 min	0 min	74%
Sun Nov 29	16 h 21 min	12 h 16 min	5 h 13 min	19 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	16 h 25 min	12 h 19 min	7 h 5 min	2 h 10 min	53%

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 November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Reykjavík have civil darkness, and 10% of past November days reached Kp 5.
How dark is Reykjavík in November?: Reykjavík averages 15.3 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 14 h 7 min on the 1st to 16 h 25 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Reykjavík in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Reykjavík's 1 degree cell 78% mean cloud in November, against 79% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Reykjavík?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 3, 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 November or December better in Reykjavík?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 3.4 hours at Reykjavík and December 4.1. December 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.