Aurora Borealis in Durham

United Kingdom · 54.78°, -1.58° · geomagnetic 56.8° · needs Kp 7

Tonight in Durham

31%

Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Durham 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.

Tonight Sun 02 Aug
31%
18
20
22
00
02
04
06
Tomorrow Mon 3 Aug
3%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app
Tuesday Tue 4 Aug
2%
Hour-by-hour for this night is in the app

Unlock every hour in the app

Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC

The next 30 nights in Durham

Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 31%. Not one of the seven reaches the Kp 7 that Durham needs, which is normal rather than unlucky — it averages 2.6 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.

Moderate aurora activity tonight around 10 PM. Similar conditions expected on August 19th.

Sun 2
31%
Kp 5.7
Mon 3
3%
Kp 3.3
Tue 4
2%
Kp 1.8
Wed 5
5%
Kp 3.0
Thu 6
2%
Kp 3.0
Fri 7
2%
Kp 2.0
Sat 8
2%
Kp 2.0

Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app

See all 30 nights for Durham

Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook

How often the aurora borealis reaches Durham

2.6 nights a year, averaged across 10.0 years of records

Storm levelNights / year
Kp 483.4
Kp 528.7
Kp 69.3
Kp 73.2
Kp 81.2

NOAA planetary Kp, 2016-04-02 to 2026-03-30

Wait for an alert; do not book a week

At Kp 7, Durham 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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
11.810.38.25.10.00.00.03.57.29.711.412.2

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 Durham horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.

Getting clear of the light

The sky over Durham reads Bortle 8. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.

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 Durham. 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 Durham viewing season.

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, 342 km north-north-west in United Kingdom.

DurhamInverness
Kp needed75
Nights per year2.6 28.7
Geomagnetic latitude56.8° 59.8°

See the Inverness forecast

Confirmed reports from this area

232 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Durham 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 Durham

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 Durham.

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. Durham keeps its fortified past above ground, at Lumley Castle, Castle Steads and Burnhope Transmitting Station, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Beamish 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 Durham will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.

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 Durham and the sky was dark enough to show it.

DatePeak
2026-03-20Kp 7.0
2026-01-20Kp 7.67
2026-01-19Kp 8.67
2025-11-12Kp 7.33
2025-11-11Kp 8.67

NOAA planetary Kp

Know when it is worth going outside

Revon watches the Durham forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.

Get aurora alerts on iPhone

Common questions about the aurora borealis in Durham

Can you see the aurora borealis from Durham?

Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Durham had about 2.6 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 Durham?

Kp 7. Durham sits at geomagnetic latitude 56.8°, 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 Durham?

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 Durham never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.

Where can you escape the light pollution near Durham?

The centre of Durham reads Bortle 8. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 37 km east around Tyne and Wear. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.

Where is the nearest place to Durham with reliable aurora borealis?

Inverness, United Kingdom — 342 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 2.6 in Durham.

Nearby towns

Forecasts for places within reach of Durham.