Can you see the northern lights in South Shields in January?

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

How dark is South Shields in January?

South Shields averages 14.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 4 min on the 1st to 13 h 50 min on the last night.

How cloudy is South Shields in January?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives South Shields's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in January, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in South Shields?

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

Is January or February better in South Shields?

By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.1 hours at South Shields and February 2.7. January comes out ahead.

South Shields · January 2027

Northern lights in South Shields in January 2027

Answer

January gives South Shields 14.6 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 2nd darkest of its 12 months, under 79% mean cloud. 6% of January days since 1996 reached Kp 5, enough for the oval edge to reach South Shields.

14.5 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 55.00, -1.43; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

January against the rest of the year

3.1

2.7

2.6

2.1

1.6

1.0

1.2

1.6

2.5

2.8

3.1

3.5

January cloud at South Shields averages 79% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, 2 points cloudier than its yearly mean. May is South Shields's clearest month at 74%. By civil night times clear sky, January scores 3.1 hours at South Shields, 3rd of 12. Sunderland, 11 km away, averages the same 79%.

Civil night at South Shields starts January at 15 h 4 min and reaches 13 h 50 min by January 31, 1.2 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 11.7 hours on the 15th.

January night by night

January opens toward a new moon on Jan 7, with full moon on Jan 22, in Europe/London dates. South Shields gets 252 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
11.1 h
2
20% lit
12.4 h
3
13% lit
13.7 h
4
7% lit
14.8 h
5
3% lit
15.0 h
6
1% lit
14.9 h
7
0% lit
14.9 h
New
8
1% lit
14.9 h
9
4% lit
14.0 h
10
9% lit
12.7 h
11
15% lit
11.4 h
12
22% lit
10.1 h
13
31% lit
8.8 h
14
41% lit
7.5 h
15
52% lit
6.0 h
16
62% lit
4.5 h
17
73% lit
3.0 h
18
83% lit
1.6 h
19
91% lit
0.3 h
20
96% lit
0.0 h
21
100% lit
0.0 h
22
100% lit
0.0 h
Full
23
97% lit
0.9 h
24
91% lit
2.5 h
25
84% lit
4.0 h
26
75% lit
5.4 h
27
65% lit
6.8 h
28
55% lit
8.1 h
29
45% lit
9.5 h
30
35% lit
10.8 h
31
26% lit
11.9 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

South Shields needs Kp 5 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 58 of the 930 January days from 1996 to 2025 (6%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three quietest months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 6%. South Shields sits at 56.9 degrees geomagnetic. By SWPC's rule the average oval edge is overhead at Kp 5, and aurora is usually visible on the northern horizon at G1 (Kp 5) or less.

January across United Kingdom

South Shields ranks 6th in United Kingdom for civil night on January 15, behind Isle of Lewis at 15.1 hours. Coming from December (15.2 hours at South Shields), January loses darkness, and February brings shorter nights (12.9 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on January 15 and January cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Isle of Lewis	15.1 h	89%
Aberdeen	14.9 h	79%
Edinburgh	14.8 h	79%
Dundee	14.8 h	82%
Glasgow	14.7 h	80%
South Shields	14.6 h	79%
Belfast	14.6 h	81%
Newcastle upon Tyne	14.6 h	79%
Sunderland	14.6 h	79%
Middlesbrough	14.6 h	79%
Manchester, England	14.5 h	82%
Leeds	14.5 h	76%

Darkness and moon, every night

South Shields, 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	15 h 4 min	12 h 2 min	11 h 6 min	4 h	28%
Sat Jan 2	15 h 3 min	12 h 1 min	12 h 25 min	4 h	20%
Sun Jan 3	15 h 2 min	12 h	13 h 40 min	4 h	13%
Mon Jan 4	15 h	11 h 59 min	14 h 46 min	4 h	7%
Tue Jan 5	14 h 59 min	11 h 58 min	14 h 59 min	4 h	3%
Wed Jan 6	14 h 57 min	11 h 56 min	14 h 57 min	4 h	1%
Thu Jan 7	14 h 55 min	11 h 55 min	14 h 55 min	4 h	0%
Fri Jan 8	14 h 54 min	11 h 53 min	14 h 54 min	4 h	1%
Sat Jan 9	14 h 52 min	11 h 52 min	14 h	4 h	4%
Sun Jan 10	14 h 50 min	11 h 50 min	12 h 41 min	4 h	9%
Mon Jan 11	14 h 47 min	11 h 48 min	11 h 24 min	4 h	15%
Tue Jan 12	14 h 45 min	11 h 46 min	10 h 7 min	4 h	22%
Wed Jan 13	14 h 43 min	11 h 44 min	8 h 49 min	3 h 13 min	31%
Thu Jan 14	14 h 41 min	11 h 42 min	7 h 28 min	1 h 53 min	41%
Fri Jan 15	14 h 38 min	11 h 40 min	6 h 3 min	29 min	52%
Sat Jan 16	14 h 36 min	11 h 38 min	4 h 33 min	0 min	62%
Sun Jan 17	14 h 33 min	11 h 36 min	3 h 1 min	0 min	73%
Mon Jan 18	14 h 30 min	11 h 34 min	1 h 33 min	0 min	83%
Tue Jan 19	14 h 28 min	11 h 31 min	21 min	0 min	91%
Wed Jan 20	14 h 25 min	11 h 29 min	0 min	0 min	96%
Thu Jan 21	14 h 22 min	11 h 26 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Fri Jan 22	14 h 19 min	11 h 24 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Sat Jan 23	14 h 16 min	11 h 21 min	56 min	0 min	97%
Sun Jan 24	14 h 13 min	11 h 18 min	2 h 30 min	0 min	91%
Mon Jan 25	14 h 10 min	11 h 15 min	3 h 58 min	0 min	84%
Tue Jan 26	14 h 6 min	11 h 13 min	5 h 23 min	38 min	75%
Wed Jan 27	14 h 3 min	11 h 10 min	6 h 46 min	2 h 3 min	65%
Thu Jan 28	14 h	11 h 7 min	8 h 8 min	3 h 27 min	55%
Fri Jan 29	13 h 56 min	11 h 4 min	9 h 29 min	4 h	45%
Sat Jan 30	13 h 53 min	11 h 1 min	10 h 46 min	4 h	35%
Sun Jan 31	13 h 50 min	10 h 58 min	11 h 55 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 South Shields in January?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at South Shields have civil darkness, and 6% of past January days reached Kp 5.
How dark is South Shields in January?: South Shields averages 14.5 hours of civil night a night in January 2027, from 15 h 4 min on the 1st to 13 h 50 min on the last night.
How cloudy is South Shields in January?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives South Shields's 1 degree cell 79% mean cloud in January, against 77% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in January 2027 for aurora in South Shields?: By darkness and moon alone, Jan 1, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at South Shields. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is January or February better in South Shields?: By civil night times the clear share, January scores 3.1 hours at South Shields and February 2.7. 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.