Tórshavn · October 2026
Northern lights in Tórshavn in October 2026
Answer
October against the rest of the year
October cloud at Tórshavn averages 86% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 86%. April is Tórshavn's clearest month at 84%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 1.7 hours at Tórshavn, 4th of 12. Isle of Lewis, 422 km away, averages 85%, clearer by 1 points.
Civil night at Tórshavn starts October at 11 h 2 min and reaches 13 h 48 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 2.8 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 8.9 hours on the 15th.
October night by night
October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 26, in Atlantic/Faroe dates. Tórshavn gets 184 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: Oct 6 (4 h), Oct 7 (4 h), Oct 8 (4 h).
- 1
68% lit
0.0 h
- 2
57% lit
0.0 h
- 3
46% lit
1.7 h
- 4
34% lit
3.8 h
- 5
24% lit
5.7 h
- 6
15% lit
7.6 h
- 7
8% lit
9.3 h
- 8
3% lit
11.0 h
- 9
1% lit
11.8 h
- 10
0% lit
11.9 h
- 11
2% lit
12.0 h
- 12
6% lit
12.1 h
- 13
11% lit
12.2 h
- 14
18% lit
12.3 h
- 15
26% lit
12.4 h
- 16
34% lit
12.5 h
- 17
43% lit
11.3 h
- 18
53% lit
9.6 h
- 19
62% lit
7.9 h
- 20
72% lit
6.3 h
- 21
80% lit
4.8 h
- 22
88% lit
3.3 h
- 23
94% lit
1.7 h
- 24
98% lit
0.0 h
- 25
100% lit
0.0 h
- 26
99% lit
0.0 h
- 27
95% lit
0.0 h
- 28
89% lit
0.0 h
- 29
81% lit
0.0 h
- 30
71% lit
0.7 h
- 31
60% lit
2.7 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 Octobers
Quiet activity already puts the oval edge over Tórshavn, so storm days matter more: 116 of the 930 October days from 1996 to 2025 (12%) reached Kp 5, one of the three most active months for that level. Tórshavn sits at 64.4 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 1.
October across Faroe Islands
Coming from September (9.4 hours at Tórshavn), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (15.0 hours on the 15th).
Darkness and moon, every night
| Night | Civil | Astronomical | Moon-free dark | Moon-free, 10 PM to 2 AM | Moon lit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Oct 1 | 11 h 2 min | 7 h 27 min | 0 min | 0 min | 68% |
| Fri Oct 2 | 11 h 8 min | 7 h 33 min | 0 min | 0 min | 57% |
| Sat Oct 3 | 11 h 14 min | 7 h 40 min | 1 h 41 min | 0 min | 46% |
| Sun Oct 4 | 11 h 19 min | 7 h 47 min | 3 h 45 min | 1 h 22 min | 34% |
| Mon Oct 5 | 11 h 25 min | 7 h 53 min | 5 h 44 min | 3 h 17 min | 24% |
| Tue Oct 6 | 11 h 31 min | 8 h | 7 h 34 min | 4 h | 15% |
| Wed Oct 7 | 11 h 37 min | 8 h 6 min | 9 h 18 min | 4 h | 8% |
| Thu Oct 8 | 11 h 42 min | 8 h 13 min | 10 h 59 min | 4 h | 3% |
| Fri Oct 9 | 11 h 48 min | 8 h 19 min | 11 h 48 min | 4 h | 1% |
| Sat Oct 10 | 11 h 54 min | 8 h 25 min | 11 h 54 min | 4 h | 0% |
| Sun Oct 11 | 12 h | 8 h 31 min | 12 h | 4 h | 2% |
| Mon Oct 12 | 12 h 5 min | 8 h 38 min | 12 h 5 min | 4 h | 6% |
| Tue Oct 13 | 12 h 11 min | 8 h 44 min | 12 h 11 min | 4 h | 11% |
| Wed Oct 14 | 12 h 16 min | 8 h 49 min | 12 h 16 min | 4 h | 18% |
| Thu Oct 15 | 12 h 22 min | 8 h 55 min | 12 h 22 min | 4 h | 26% |
| Fri Oct 16 | 12 h 28 min | 9 h 1 min | 12 h 28 min | 4 h | 34% |
| Sat Oct 17 | 12 h 33 min | 9 h 7 min | 11 h 20 min | 4 h | 43% |
| Sun Oct 18 | 12 h 39 min | 9 h 13 min | 9 h 35 min | 4 h | 53% |
| Mon Oct 19 | 12 h 44 min | 9 h 18 min | 7 h 55 min | 2 h 21 min | 62% |
| Tue Oct 20 | 12 h 50 min | 9 h 24 min | 6 h 20 min | 43 min | 72% |
| Wed Oct 21 | 12 h 55 min | 9 h 29 min | 4 h 48 min | 0 min | 80% |
| Thu Oct 22 | 13 h | 9 h 35 min | 3 h 16 min | 0 min | 88% |
| Fri Oct 23 | 13 h 6 min | 9 h 40 min | 1 h 41 min | 0 min | 94% |
| Sat Oct 24 | 13 h 11 min | 9 h 45 min | 2 min | 0 min | 98% |
| Sun Oct 25 | 13 h 17 min | 9 h 50 min | 0 min | 0 min | 100% |
| Mon Oct 26 | 13 h 22 min | 9 h 56 min | 0 min | 0 min | 99% |
| Tue Oct 27 | 13 h 27 min | 10 h 1 min | 0 min | 0 min | 95% |
| Wed Oct 28 | 13 h 32 min | 10 h 6 min | 0 min | 0 min | 89% |
| Thu Oct 29 | 13 h 38 min | 10 h 11 min | 0 min | 0 min | 81% |
| Fri Oct 30 | 13 h 43 min | 10 h 16 min | 41 min | 0 min | 71% |
| Sat Oct 31 | 13 h 48 min | 10 h 20 min | 2 h 44 min | 0 min | 60% |
Questions
- Can you see the northern lights in Tórshavn in October?
- On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Tórshavn have civil darkness, and 12% of past October days reached Kp 5.
- How dark is Tórshavn in October?
- Tórshavn averages 12.4 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h 2 min on the 1st to 13 h 48 min on the last night.
- How cloudy is Tórshavn in October?
- NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Tórshavn's 1 degree cell 86% mean cloud in October, against 86% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
- What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Tórshavn?
- By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Tórshavn. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
- Is October or November better in Tórshavn?
- By civil night times the clear share, October scores 1.7 hours at Tórshavn and November 2.1. 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.