Aurora Borealis in Houghton-Le-Spring
United Kingdom · 54.84°, -1.46° · geomagnetic 56.8° · needs Kp 7
Tonight in Houghton-Le-Spring
31%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Houghton-Le-Spring 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 Houghton-Le-Spring
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 Houghton-Le-Spring 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.
Nights 8–30 unlock in the Revon app
See all 30 nights for Houghton-Le-Spring
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Houghton-Le-Spring
2.6 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, Houghton-Le-Spring 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 | 8.2 | 5.1 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 3.5 | 7.2 | 9.7 | 11.4 | 12.2 |
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 Houghton-Le-Spring horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Houghton-Le-Spring reads Bortle 8. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 22 km north-east — around Tyne and Wear → Bortle 5
- 31 km east-south-east — around Tyne and Wear → 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 Houghton-Le-Spring. 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 Houghton-Le-Spring 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, 339 km north-north-west in United Kingdom.
| Houghton-Le-Spring | Inverness | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 7 | 5 |
| Nights per year | 2.6 | 28.7 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 56.8° | 59.8° |
Confirmed reports from this area
227 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Houghton-Le-Spring 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 Houghton-Le-Spring
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 Houghton-Le-Spring.
- Penshaw Hill — hill4.9 km north-north-west
- WWT Washington — wildlife reserve6.7 km north-north-west
- Tunstall Hills — hill6.7 km north-east
- Match Island — island9.7 km north-west
- Whitburn Bay — bay12.8 km north-north-east
- Souter Point — headland14.7 km north-north-east
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. Houghton-Le-Spring keeps its fortified past above ground, at Lumley Castle, Hylton Castle and Wrekenton transmitter, Mast West, 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 Houghton-Le-Spring will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Seaham Hall Hotel 6.6 km from the centre
- Holiday Inn Washington 7.2 km from the centre
- George Washington Hotel 7.8 km from the centre
- Express By Holiday Inn Washington Tyn 7.9 km from the centre
- Campanile Washington Newcastle Upon Tyne 8.4 km from the centre
- Quality Hotel Sunderland 8.9 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 Houghton-Le-Spring 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 Houghton-Le-Spring forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Houghton-Le-Spring
Can you see the aurora borealis from Houghton-Le-Spring?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Houghton-Le-Spring 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 Houghton-Le-Spring?
Kp 7. Houghton-Le-Spring 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 Houghton-Le-Spring?
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 Houghton-Le-Spring never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Houghton-Le-Spring?
The centre of Houghton-Le-Spring reads Bortle 8. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 31 km east-south-east around Tyne and Wear. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Houghton-Le-Spring with reliable aurora borealis?
Inverness, United Kingdom — 339 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 2.6 in Houghton-Le-Spring.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Houghton-Le-Spring.