Where in Iceland are the northern lights most likely?
Of the four Icelandic places on Aurorama, Höfn on the south-east coast had the most good nights in March, 32%. Reykjavík followed with 29%, Mývatn with 28% and Akureyri with 20%. A good night has at least one hour that is dark, clear and active enough for the aurora, counted hour by hour from 1995 to 2025.
Good nights by month in Iceland
Höfn leads in midwinter, with 39% of January nights and 38% of February nights good. Reykjavík's best month is October, at 34%. Mývatn peaks in February, at 34%.
Akureyri, on the north coast, had the fewest good nights of the four in every month with darkness. Its best month, February, reached 25%.
| Place | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavík | 29 | 30 | 29 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 25 | 34 | 31 | 31 |
| Akureyri | 19 | 25 | 20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 19 | 17 | 17 | 20 |
| Mývatn | 30 | 34 | 28 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 24 | 26 | 27 | 28 |
| Höfn | 39 | 38 | 32 | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 25 | 32 | 34 | 33 |
What stops the aurora in Iceland
Cloud. In March it took 66% of nights in Reykjavík, 76% in Akureyri, 66% at Mývatn and 63% in Höfn. A clear night with too little activity cost only about one night in twenty: in Reykjavík 5% of March nights.
| Place | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Reykjavík | 65 | 65 | 66 | 60 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 70 | 59 | 62 | 59 |
| Akureyri | 75 | 72 | 76 | 55 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 78 | 80 | 78 | 74 |
| Mývatn | 63 | 62 | 66 | 50 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 72 | 69 | 68 | 62 |
| Höfn | 55 | 55 | 63 | 63 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 70 | 62 | 58 | 56 |
Iceland's longer dark season
Iceland lies further south than the Arctic towns of Norway and Sweden, so its dark season runs longer. In April only 16% of Reykjavík nights and 15% of Höfn nights had no dark hour, and Reykjavík still had 20% good April nights.
From May to July there was no dark hour at any of the four places. In August Reykjavík already had 11% good nights, the most of the four.
A longer stay in Iceland
Five nights in a row in March gave at least one good night 81 times in 100 in Höfn, 74 at Mývatn, 70 in Reykjavík and 62 in Akureyri. All ten places side by side: how many nights do I need.
Place pages in Iceland
Northern lights tours in Iceland
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