Aurora Borealis in Inverness
United Kingdom · 57.48°, -4.22° · geomagnetic 59.8° · needs Kp 5
Tonight in Inverness
44%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Inverness needs Kp 5, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 5.7. That is on the threshold rather than over it, so cloud and moonlight will decide the night.
Updated 2026-08-02 20:20 UTC
The next 30 nights in Inverness
Every night to come, scored the same way as tonight. The best of the open week is Sunday 2 Aug at 44%. One of the seven reaches the Kp 5 that Inverness needs: Sunday 2 Aug, at Kp 5.7. 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 Inverness
Revon aurora model over the NOAA Kp forecast and 27-day outlook
How often the aurora borealis reaches Inverness
21.9 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
Worth watching through the dark half of the year
Kp 5 is a moderate storm — not an everyday event, but common enough that a patient observer in Inverness sees the aurora borealis most winters.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11.9 | 10.3 | 8.0 | 4.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.8 | 6.8 | 9.6 | 11.5 | 12.4 |
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 Inverness horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
The sky over Inverness reads Bortle 5. Getting clear of the built-up area makes a visible difference on a marginal night.
- 3 km north-west → Bortle 5
- 14 km east — around Highland → 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, March and October came out ahead in Inverness. 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 Inverness viewing season.
- 11 Sep 2026
- 11 Oct 2026
- 09 Nov 2026
- 09 Dec 2026
- 07 Jan 2027
- 06 Feb 2027
- 08 Mar 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 Akureyri, 1,165 km north-north-west in Iceland.
| Inverness | Akureyri | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 5 | 3 |
| Nights per year | 21.9 | 171.4 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 59.8° | 69.7° |
Confirmed reports from this area
166 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Inverness 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 Inverness
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 Inverness.
- Ord Hill — hill4.2 km north
- Drumsmittal Hill — hill4.7 km north-north-west
- Alturlie Point — headland6.1 km north-east
- Alturlie Bay — bay7.7 km east-north-east
- Munlochy Bay — bay7.9 km north
- Corgrain Point — headland7.9 km west-north-west
Places from GeoNames (CC BY 4.0)
Places to watch from
Named viewpoints and reserves near Inverness that sit outside the worst of the light. Each puts the northern horizon over open ground instead of over rooftops.
- Chanonry Point 13.2 km
- Findon Waterfall 16.0 km
- RSPB Bird Shelter 21.1 km
- Neil M Gunn Viewpoint 21.5 km
- Yankee Pier 22.4 km
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors
What to do with the daylight
Aurora watching is a night job, and in winter that leaves a short, bright day to fill. Inverness keeps its fortified past above ground, at Inverness Castle, Coul Point, Crannog (formerly Carn Dubh) and Coul Point crannog, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Inverness Museum & Art Gallery, Inverness Castle Experience and The Scottish Kiltmaker Visitor Centre 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 OpenStreetMap contributors
Where to stay
Anywhere on the outskirts of Inverness will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Castle Stuart 8.6 km from the centre
- Dalcross Castle 11.5 km from the centre
- Royal Highland Hotel 0.0 km from the centre
- City Hostel 0.1 km from the centre
- The Waverly Guest House 0.1 km from the centre
- Mercure Inverness 0.2 km from the centre
Places from OpenStreetMap contributors — confirm before booking
The last nights it was visible here
Nights in the last decade when the storm was strong enough for Inverness and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-24 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-23 | Kp 5.0 |
| 2026-03-22 | Kp 6.67 |
| 2026-03-21 | Kp 6.0 |
| 2026-03-20 | Kp 7.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Inverness forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Inverness
Can you see the aurora borealis from Inverness?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Inverness had about 21.9 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 Inverness?
Kp 5. Inverness sits at geomagnetic latitude 59.8°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 5. Storms that size occur about 28.7 nights a year.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Inverness?
September, March and October. 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 Inverness never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Inverness?
The centre of Inverness reads Bortle 5. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 14 km east around Highland. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Inverness with reliable aurora borealis?
Akureyri, Iceland — 1,165 km north-north-west. It needs only Kp 3 and averages 171.4 viable nights a year against 21.9 in Inverness.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Inverness.