Aurora Borealis in Cleckheaton
United Kingdom · 53.72°, -1.71° · geomagnetic 55.8° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in Cleckheaton
25%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Cleckheaton needs Kp 7 to see anything at all, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. Short of the threshold, which is what most nights look like here.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Cleckheaton
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 25%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Cleckheaton needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 2.7 viable nights a year. The 23 nights past the seven-day window move with the 27-day solar rotation and are updated daily in the app.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
See all 30 nights for Cleckheaton
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Cleckheaton
2.7 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records
| Storm level | Nights / year |
|---|---|
| Kp 4 | 83.4 |
| Kp 5 | 28.7 |
| Kp 6 | 9.3 |
| Kp 7 | 3.2 |
| Kp 8 | 1.2 |
NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30
Wait for an alert; do not book a week
At Kp 7, Cleckheaton needs a severe geomagnetic storm before anything shows above the northern horizon. Storms that size arrive a handful of times per solar cycle and announce themselves a day or two ahead. Watching for one beats picking dates and hoping.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.8 | 10.3 | 8.3 | 5.4 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 7.4 | 9.7 | 11.4 | 12.1 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to July
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Cleckheaton horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Cleckheaton is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 8. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 36 km north-north-west — around North Yorkshire → Bortle 5
- 47 km north-west — around North Yorkshire → Bortle 4
Falchi 2016 World Atlas (DOI: 10.5880/GFZ.1.4.2016.001)
The months that actually deliver
Counting only nights that were both stormy enough and dark enough, September, August and November came out ahead in Cleckheaton. That is storm season and darkness overlapping — the equinoxes tend to be geomagnetically active, and the nights are already long by then.
Darkest nights of the coming year
A bright moon washes out a weak display as effectively as street lighting. These new moons fall inside the Cleckheaton viewing season.
- 13 Aug 2026
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
Where it is close to a certainty
If you would rather plan a trip than wait for a storm, the nearest place with genuinely frequent aurora is Inverness, 446 km north-north-west in United Kingdom.
| Cleckheaton | Inverness | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 5 |
| Nights per year | 2.7 | 28.7 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 55.8° | 59.8° |
Confirmed reports from this area
218 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Cleckheaton between 2015-01-01 and 2016-12-31. Rare is not the same as impossible.
Aurorasaurus verified positive reports
Where the horizon opens up near Cleckheaton
The display sits low on the northern horizon, so what beats a better forecast is open ground facing that way. Height gets you above the town glow; water gives you an unbroken skyline. These are within a short drive of Cleckheaton.
- Westgate Hill — hill4.4 km north-north-east
- Owlcotes Hill — hill8.6 km north-north-east
- Springhead Park — park16.2 km east
- Chapel Allerton Park — park16.8 km north-east
- Rombalds Moor — moor22.0 km north-north-west
- Beanlands Island — island23.8 km north-north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
What to do with the daylight
Aurora watching is a night job, and in winter that leaves a short, bright day to fill. Close to Cleckheaton you will find Bolling Hall, Howley Hall and Tyersal Mediumwave Transmitter, and for a day when the cloud sits low, National Media Museum are indoors and near by.
Keep the daylight loose: the sky decides the evening, and the forecast can turn within a few hours.
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Cleckheaton will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Gomersal Park Hotel & Leisure Club 2.6 km from the centre
- Novotel Bradford 3.9 km from the centre
- Campanile Bradford 3.9 km from the centre
- Courtyard Bradford Leeds 4.1 km from the centre
- Best Western Guide Post Hotel 5.0 km from the centre
- Cedar Court Bradford Leeds 5.7 km from the centre
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0) — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Cleckheaton and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
| 2026-01-20 | Kp 7.67 |
| 2026-01-19 | Kp 8.67 |
| 2025-11-12 | Kp 7.33 |
| 2025-11-11 | Kp 8.67 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Cleckheaton forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Cleckheaton
Can you see the aurora borealis from Cleckheaton?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Cleckheaton had about 2.7 nights a year when the storm was strong enough and the sky dark enough at the same time.
What Kp index do you need to see the aurora borealis in Cleckheaton?
Kp 7. Cleckheaton sits at geomagnetic latitude 55.8°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 7. Storms that size occur about 3.2 nights a year.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Cleckheaton?
September, August and November. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From May to July the sky over Cleckheaton never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Cleckheaton?
The centre of Cleckheaton reads Bortle 8. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 47 km north-west around North Yorkshire. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Cleckheaton with reliable aurora borealis?
Inverness, United Kingdom — 446 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 2.7 in Cleckheaton.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Cleckheaton.