When is the best time to see the northern lights?

The answer to the question of the century is still not found ☺

Northern lights are a magnificent natural phenomenon that can be seen with the naked eye from late August to mid April. However, many people are constantly asking when it is the right address and the right time to see the northern lights.

We, as experienced northern lights guides, have created this article to clarify this issue.

Unfortunately (fortunately) there is no correct answer to this question due to many factors. Because you don’t know where, when and for how long the northern lights will appear each night.

The northern lights are simply the phenomenon of nature, which is formed by the particles breaking off from the sun into the atmosphere and scattered from the protection circle of the world towards the poles.

We can follow the interaction of these particles to the world in three-day periods. Sometimes this interaction can be intense and sometimes low. And these statistical interactions vary every day of the year.

Likewise, the intensity of the northern lights differs statistically every year.

Although the equinox periods are observed to be more intense from the sun, the northern lights may be more observed in the months that do not coincide with the equinox months every year.

Unfortunately, the magnificent photos and videos shared in many promotional platforms naturally put tourists in high expectation. However, seeing the northern lights is not as easy as you think, even if you come across an intense period of activity, the northern lights may not show themselves.

We follow the intensity of the northern lights with a system called KP and numbers from 0 to 9. The KP value follows how far the aurora oval extends from north to south beyond density.

Even if Abisko KP 1, where our headquarter, is located within the aurora oval, we would expect the KP figure to be higher for the more southern regions.

What makes the Northern lights fascinating is that it is not easy to observe this natural phenomenon and the chance factor is also involved.

For this reason, you can easily set your travel for the northern lights to any date between September and April.

Unfortunately, many people with many followers that have not been able to experience the northern lights post many wrong articles on their internet platforms.

– Equinox periods, the northern lights look better – WRONG

– When the night time is longer, the chance of seeing the northern lights increases more – WRONG

As we always say, do not go into a wrong trip planning by adjusting your travel to the Arctic Circle according to this wrong information.

There are, of course, factors that will increase your chances of seeing the northern lights. However, these are not related to any month of the year. These are all about destination selection and experienced guides operating there.