Can you see the northern lights in Vale of Leven in October?

On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Vale of Leven have civil darkness, and 29% of past October days reached Kp 4.

How dark is Vale of Leven in October?

Vale of Leven averages 12.3 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h 9 min on the 1st to 13 h 19 min on the last night.

How cloudy is Vale of Leven in October?

NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Vale of Leven's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in October, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.

What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Vale of Leven?

By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Vale of Leven. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.

Is October or November better in Vale of Leven?

By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.9 hours at Vale of Leven and November 3.4. November comes out ahead.

Vale of Leven · October 2026

Northern lights in Vale of Leven in October 2026

Answer

October gives Vale of Leven 12.2 hours of civil night on the 15th, the 5th darkest of its 12 months, under 76% mean cloud. 29% of October days since 1996 reached Kp 4, enough for the oval edge to reach Vale of Leven.

12.3 h

civil night, average night

SunCalc for 55.97, -4.58; NASA POWER; GFZ Kp

October against the rest of the year

3.0

3.1

2.7

2.4

1.7

0.9

1.0

1.6

2.5

2.9

3.4

October cloud at Vale of Leven averages 76% in NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 record, close to its yearly mean of 76%. April is Vale of Leven's clearest month at 71%. By civil night times clear sky, October scores 2.9 hours at Vale of Leven, 5th of 12. Glasgow, 23 km away, averages the same 76%.

Civil night at Vale of Leven starts October at 11 h 9 min and reaches 13 h 19 min by October 31 as the nights lengthen by 2.2 hours. SWPC's 10 PM to 2 AM window is fully dark on every night. True astronomical darkness, the sun 18 degrees down, lasts 9.3 hours on the 15th.

October night by night

October opens toward a new moon on Oct 10, with full moon on Oct 26, in Europe/London dates. Vale of Leven gets 185 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
0.7 h
2
57% lit
1.7 h
3
46% lit
3.1 h
4
34% lit
4.7 h
5
24% lit
6.3 h
6
15% lit
7.9 h
7
8% lit
9.4 h
8
3% lit
10.9 h
9
1% lit
11.8 h
10
0% lit
11.8 h
New
11
2% lit
11.9 h
12
6% lit
12.0 h
13
11% lit
12.1 h
14
18% lit
12.1 h
15
26% lit
11.7 h
16
34% lit
10.8 h
17
43% lit
9.7 h
18
53% lit
8.4 h
19
62% lit
7.1 h
20
72% lit
5.8 h
21
80% lit
4.4 h
22
88% lit
3.0 h
23
94% lit
1.7 h
24
98% lit
0.2 h
25
100% lit
0.0 h
26
99% lit
0.0 h
Full
27
95% lit
0.0 h
28
89% lit
0.0 h
29
81% lit
0.6 h
30
71% lit
1.9 h
31
60% lit
3.5 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

Vale of Leven needs Kp 4 for the average oval edge to sit overhead. 270 of the 930 October days from 1996 to 2025 (29%) reached it in the GFZ Potsdam record, one of the three most active months for that level; storm days with Kp 5 or more made up 12%. Vale of Leven 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.

October across United Kingdom

Vale of Leven ranks 2nd in United Kingdom for civil night on October 15, behind Isle of Lewis at 12.3 hours. Coming from September (9.9 hours at Vale of Leven), October adds darkness, and the nights keep growing into November (14.2 hours on the 15th).

Civil night on October 15 and October cloud, month-page towns in United Kingdom
Town	Civil night	Cloud
Isle of Lewis	12.3 h	85%
Vale of Leven	12.2 h	76%
Glasgow	12.2 h	76%
Edinburgh	12.2 h	76%
Belfast	12.2 h	79%
Newcastle upon Tyne	12.2 h	77%
Aberdeen	12.2 h	76%
Sunderland	12.2 h	77%
Dundee	12.2 h	80%
Middlesbrough	12.2 h	77%
Manchester, England	12.1 h	78%
Sheffield	12.1 h	74%

Darkness and moon, every night

Vale of Leven, October 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
Thu Oct 1	11 h 9 min	8 h 12 min	40 min	0 min	68%
Fri Oct 2	11 h 13 min	8 h 17 min	1 h 42 min	0 min	57%
Sat Oct 3	11 h 18 min	8 h 22 min	3 h 6 min	35 min	46%
Sun Oct 4	11 h 22 min	8 h 27 min	4 h 42 min	2 h 8 min	34%
Mon Oct 5	11 h 27 min	8 h 32 min	6 h 20 min	3 h 43 min	24%
Tue Oct 6	11 h 31 min	8 h 37 min	7 h 54 min	4 h	15%
Wed Oct 7	11 h 36 min	8 h 42 min	9 h 25 min	4 h	8%
Thu Oct 8	11 h 40 min	8 h 47 min	10 h 54 min	4 h	3%
Fri Oct 9	11 h 45 min	8 h 51 min	11 h 45 min	4 h	1%
Sat Oct 10	11 h 49 min	8 h 56 min	11 h 49 min	4 h	0%
Sun Oct 11	11 h 54 min	9 h 1 min	11 h 54 min	4 h	2%
Mon Oct 12	11 h 58 min	9 h 5 min	11 h 58 min	4 h	6%
Tue Oct 13	12 h 3 min	9 h 10 min	12 h 3 min	4 h	11%
Wed Oct 14	12 h 7 min	9 h 15 min	12 h 7 min	4 h	18%
Thu Oct 15	12 h 12 min	9 h 19 min	11 h 42 min	4 h	26%
Fri Oct 16	12 h 16 min	9 h 24 min	10 h 49 min	4 h	34%
Sat Oct 17	12 h 20 min	9 h 28 min	9 h 41 min	4 h	43%
Sun Oct 18	12 h 25 min	9 h 32 min	8 h 25 min	3 h 9 min	53%
Mon Oct 19	12 h 29 min	9 h 37 min	7 h 5 min	1 h 47 min	62%
Tue Oct 20	12 h 33 min	9 h 41 min	5 h 45 min	25 min	72%
Wed Oct 21	12 h 37 min	9 h 45 min	4 h 24 min	0 min	80%
Thu Oct 22	12 h 42 min	9 h 49 min	3 h 3 min	0 min	88%
Fri Oct 23	12 h 46 min	9 h 54 min	1 h 40 min	0 min	94%
Sat Oct 24	12 h 50 min	9 h 58 min	12 min	0 min	98%
Sun Oct 25	12 h 54 min	10 h 2 min	0 min	0 min	100%
Mon Oct 26	12 h 58 min	10 h 6 min	0 min	0 min	99%
Tue Oct 27	13 h 3 min	10 h 10 min	0 min	0 min	95%
Wed Oct 28	13 h 7 min	10 h 14 min	0 min	0 min	89%
Thu Oct 29	13 h 11 min	10 h 17 min	38 min	0 min	81%
Fri Oct 30	13 h 15 min	10 h 21 min	1 h 57 min	0 min	71%
Sat Oct 31	13 h 19 min	10 h 25 min	3 h 31 min	0 min	60%

Moon lit: SunCalc illuminated fraction at the middle of the 10 PM to 2 AM window.

Questions

Can you see the northern lights in Vale of Leven in October?: On dark, clear nights with enough activity. 31 of 31 nights at Vale of Leven have civil darkness, and 29% of past October days reached Kp 4.
How dark is Vale of Leven in October?: Vale of Leven averages 12.3 hours of civil night a night in October 2026, from 11 h 9 min on the 1st to 13 h 19 min on the last night.
How cloudy is Vale of Leven in October?: NASA POWER's 2001 to 2020 climatology gives Vale of Leven's 1 degree cell 76% mean cloud in October, against 76% for the whole year. It is an all-hours average, not a forecast.
What is the best night in October 2026 for aurora in Vale of Leven?: By darkness and moon alone, Oct 6, with 4 h of moon-free darkness inside 10 PM to 2 AM at Vale of Leven. Activity on that date will only be known hours ahead.
Is October or November better in Vale of Leven?: By civil night times the clear share, October scores 2.9 hours at Vale of Leven and November 3.4. 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.