Can you see the northern lights in Saint Andrews in November?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Saint Andrews have civil darkness, and 25% of past November days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Saint Andrews in November?

Saint Andrews averages 14.3 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 24 min on the 1st to 14 h 59 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Saint Andrews in November?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Saint Andrews's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in November, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Saint Andrews?

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

Is November or December better in Saint Andrews?

By civil night times the clear share, November scores 2.9 hours at Saint Andrews and December 2.8. November comes out ahead.

Saint Andrews · November 2026

Northern lights in Saint Andrews in November 2026

Answer

November gives Saint Andrews 14.3 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 3rd darkest of its 12 months, under 80% mean cloud. 25% of November days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Saint Andrews.

14.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 56.34, -2.80; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

November against the rest of the year

2.7

2.6

2.3

1.9

1.4

0.6

0.9

1.5

2.2

2.4

2.9

2.8

November cloud at Saint Andrews averages 80% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 80%. May is Saint Andrews's clearest month at 75%. That makes November the best month of Saint Andrews's year by civil night times clear sky, 2.9 hours. Dundee, 18 km away, averages the same 80%.

Civil night at Saint Andrews starts November at 13 h 24 min and reaches 14 h 59 min by November 30 as the nights lengthen by 1.6 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 11.3 hours on the 15th.

November night by night

November opens toward a new moon on Nov 9, with full moon on Nov 24, in Europe/London dates. Saint Andrews gets 223 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 4 (4 h), Nov 5 (4 h), Nov 6 (4 h).

1
48% lit
5.1 h
2
37% lit
6.7 h
3
27% lit
8.2 h
4
18% lit
9.7 h
5
11% lit
11.1 h
6
5% lit
12.5 h
7
2% lit
13.8 h
8
0% lit
13.8 h
9
1% lit
13.9 h
New
10
3% lit
14.0 h
11
7% lit
14.0 h
12
12% lit
13.9 h
13
19% lit
12.9 h
14
27% lit
11.7 h
15
36% lit
10.3 h
16
45% lit
9.0 h
17
55% lit
7.7 h
18
65% lit
6.4 h
19
74% lit
5.0 h
20
83% lit
3.6 h
21
91% lit
2.1 h
22
96% lit
0.5 h
23
99% lit
0.0 h
24
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
25
97% lit
0.0 h
26
92% lit
0.3 h
27
84% lit
1.8 h
28
74% lit
3.5 h
29
64% lit
5.1 h
30
53% lit
6.6 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

Saint Andrews needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 229 of the 900 November days from 1996 to 2025 (25%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, 5th of 12 months; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 10%. Saint Andrews sits at 58.4 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.

November across United Kingdom

Saint Andrews ranks 3rd in United Kingdom for civil night on November 15, behind Isle of Lewis at 14.5 hours. Coming from October (12.2 hours at Saint Andrews), November adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into December (15.4 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on November 15 and November cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Isle of Lewis	14.5 h	88%
Aberdeen	14.4 h	76%
Saint Andrews	14.3 h	80%
Dundee	14.3 h	80%
Glasgow	14.2 h	76%
Edinburgh	14.2 h	76%
Belfast	14.1 h	80%
Newcastle upon Tyne	14.1 h	78%
Sunderland	14.1 h	78%
Middlesbrough	14.1 h	78%
Manchester, England	14.0 h	81%
Sheffield	14.0 h	73%

Darkness and moon, every night

Saint Andrews, 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	13 h 24 min	10 h 29 min	5 h 7 min	20 min	48%
Mon Nov 2	13 h 28 min	10 h 32 min	6 h 42 min	1 h 53 min	37%
Tue Nov 3	13 h 32 min	10 h 36 min	8 h 12 min	3 h 21 min	27%
Wed Nov 4	13 h 36 min	10 h 40 min	9 h 40 min	4 h	18%
Thu Nov 5	13 h 40 min	10 h 43 min	11 h 5 min	4 h	11%
Fri Nov 6	13 h 44 min	10 h 47 min	12 h 31 min	4 h	5%
Sat Nov 7	13 h 48 min	10 h 50 min	13 h 48 min	4 h	2%
Sun Nov 8	13 h 51 min	10 h 54 min	13 h 51 min	4 h	0%
Mon Nov 9	13 h 55 min	10 h 57 min	13 h 55 min	4 h	1%
Tue Nov 10	13 h 59 min	11 h	13 h 59 min	4 h	3%
Wed Nov 11	14 h 2 min	11 h 4 min	14 h 2 min	4 h	7%
Thu Nov 12	14 h 6 min	11 h 7 min	13 h 56 min	4 h	12%
Fri Nov 13	14 h 9 min	11 h 10 min	12 h 53 min	4 h	19%
Sat Nov 14	14 h 13 min	11 h 13 min	11 h 39 min	4 h	27%
Sun Nov 15	14 h 16 min	11 h 16 min	10 h 20 min	4 h	36%
Mon Nov 16	14 h 20 min	11 h 19 min	9 h 1 min	3 h 55 min	45%
Tue Nov 17	14 h 23 min	11 h 22 min	7 h 42 min	2 h 34 min	55%
Wed Nov 18	14 h 26 min	11 h 25 min	6 h 23 min	1 h 13 min	65%
Thu Nov 19	14 h 29 min	11 h 27 min	5 h 2 min	0 min	74%
Fri Nov 20	14 h 32 min	11 h 30 min	3 h 38 min	0 min	83%
Sat Nov 21	14 h 35 min	11 h 33 min	2 h 8 min	0 min	91%
Sun Nov 22	14 h 38 min	11 h 35 min	32 min	0 min	96%
Mon Nov 23	14 h 41 min	11 h 38 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Nov 24	14 h 44 min	11 h 40 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Wed Nov 25	14 h 47 min	11 h 42 min	0 min	0 min	97%
Thu Nov 26	14 h 49 min	11 h 45 min	15 min	0 min	92%
Fri Nov 27	14 h 52 min	11 h 47 min	1 h 48 min	0 min	84%
Sat Nov 28	14 h 54 min	11 h 49 min	3 h 28 min	0 min	74%
Sun Nov 29	14 h 57 min	11 h 51 min	5 h 5 min	0 min	64%
Mon Nov 30	14 h 59 min	11 h 53 min	6 h 38 min	1 h 8 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 Saint Andrews in November?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 30 of 30 nights at Saint Andrews have civil darkness, and 25% of past November days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Saint Andrews in November?: Saint Andrews averages 14.3 hours of civil night a night in November 2026, from 13 h 24 min on the 1st to 14 h 59 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Saint Andrews in November?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Saint Andrews's 1 degree cell 80% mean cloud in November, against 80% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in November 2026 for aurora in Saint Andrews?: By darkness and moon alone, Nov 4, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Saint Andrews. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is November or December better in Saint Andrews?: By civil night times the clear share, November scores 2.9 hours at Saint Andrews and December 2.8. November 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.