Northern lights in Inverness

Scotland, United Kingdom. Darkness calculated 24 October 2026 with Astronomy Engine 2.1.19 (MIT licence).

The main town of the Scottish Highlands. The sky here is dark enough for the aurora from August to April.

Green and pink northern lights low over a dark horizon, partly behind clouds — The northern lights over Baltasound, Shetland, Scotland. Photo: Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

Month by month

Pick a month for dark-hour times, Moon dates and what to expect.

Hours of darkness, month by month

JFMAMJJASOND

Hours with the Sun more than 12° below the horizon, on the 15th of each month
Month	Dark hours	Aurora possible?
January	13.3 h	Yes, if active and clear
February	11.5 h	Yes, if active and clear
March	9.3 h	Yes, if active and clear
April	6.3 h	Yes, if active and clear
May	1.9 h	Only a short dark spell
June	none	No: too light
July	none	No: too light
August	4.9 h	Yes, if active and clear
September	8.2 h	Yes, if active and clear
October	10.7 h	Yes, if active and clear
November	12.8 h	Yes, if active and clear
December	13.8 h	Yes, if active and clear

The darkest weeks ahead

New Moons in the dark season. The week around each one has the least moonlight.

9 November 2026
9 December 2026
7 January 2027
6 February 2027
8 March 2027
6 April 2027

On the ground

Scotland only sees the aurora during stronger geomagnetic storms, low in the northern sky. Treat it as a bonus, not a reason to travel; watch the NOAA forecast and look north from somewhere dark.

Whatever the month, check two forecasts on the day: the aurora forecast from NOAA and the cloud forecast for where you are. How to read the aurora forecast.

Full checklist for choosing a tour.

Other places: Tromsø, Abisko, Rovaniemi, Reykjavík, Fairbanks, Yellowknife. Compare all seven.

Sources

Darkness and Moon phases: our calculation, Astronomy Engine 2.1.19 (MIT licence). How we worked it out.
NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Tips on viewing the aurora.