Aurora Borealis in Streymoy
Faroe Islands · 62.01°, -6.77° · geomagnetic 64.5° · needs Kp 3
Tonight in Streymoy
29%
Peak chance of a visible display tonight, from the same model the Revon app runs. Streymoy needs Kp 3, and tonight the forecast peaks at Kp 3.3. That is on the threshold rather than over it, so cloud and moonlight will decide the night.
Get the full 30-night forecast in Revon
Updated 2026-08-09 18:23 UTC
How often the aurora borealis reaches Streymoy
118.7 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
You are inside the auroral oval
Streymoy sits far enough northern that quiet conditions are enough. What limits you here is cloud and moonlight, not geomagnetic activity.
Hours of true darkness, month by month
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12.2 | 10.2 | 7.3 | 1.3 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.8 | 9.3 | 11.7 | 12.7 |
Solar declination and hour angle at −18°
Nothing to see from May to August
Through those months the sun never falls more than 18° below the Streymoy horizon, so the sky never darkens fully. Plan around the darker half of the year.
Getting clear of the light
Streymoy is small enough that its own lights are a minor problem — the centre reads Bortle 4. Walking to the edge of town is often escape enough.
- 2 km south-east → Bortle 4
- 2 km south-east → 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, March, September and October came out ahead in Streymoy. 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 Streymoy 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 Inverness, 524 km south-south-east in United Kingdom.
| Streymoy | Inverness | |
|---|---|---|
| Kp needed | 3 | 5 |
| Nights per year | 118.7 | 28.7 |
| Geomagnetic latitude | 64.5° | 59.8° |
Confirmed reports from this area
2 verified sightings were logged within 300 km of Streymoy 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 Streymoy
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 Streymoy.
- Gellingarklettur — hill4.3 km north-west
- Kallanes — headland4.8 km north-north-west
- Sømærke — hill5.1 km east
- Rivtangi — headland5.7 km east
- Murufelli — mountain6.5 km west-north-west
- Kaldbaksfjørður — fjord7.1 km 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. Streymoy keeps its fortified past above ground, at Thorshavn DGPS-Transmitter, Grundin and Skansin, and for a day when the cloud sits low, Føroya Landsbókasavn 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 Streymoy will do; what matters is being able to step outside and check the sky without a drive first.
- Hafnia 0.1 km from the centre
- Hotel Torshavn 0.8 km from the centre
- Hilton Garden Inn Faroe Islands 1.4 km from the centre
- Streym 0.6 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 Streymoy and the sky was dark enough to show it.
| Date | Peak |
|---|---|
| 2026-03-30 | Kp 3.0 |
| 2026-03-29 | Kp 3.33 |
| 2026-03-28 | Kp 3.67 |
| 2026-03-27 | Kp 3.33 |
| 2026-03-26 | Kp 3.0 |
NOAA planetary Kp
Aurora forecasts across Streymoy
All 1 places in Streymoy with a forecast page, and the Kp each one needs.
- TórshavnKp 3
Know when it is worth going outside
Revon watches the Streymoy forecast and pushes an alert when the odds for tonight clear your threshold — no checking, no guessing.
Common questions about the aurora borealis in Streymoy
Can you see the aurora borealis from Streymoy?
Yes. On the last 10.0 years of NOAA Kp records, Streymoy had about 118.7 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 Streymoy?
Kp 3. Streymoy sits at geomagnetic latitude 64.5°, and the auroral oval only reaches that far from the pole once activity hits Kp 3.
When is the best time of year to see the aurora borealis in Streymoy?
March, September and October. Those months scored highest once both conditions are counted together: geomagnetic activity and enough hours of real darkness. From May to August the sky over Streymoy never gets fully dark, so nothing is visible however strong the storm.
Where can you escape the light pollution near Streymoy?
The centre of Streymoy reads Bortle 4. The nearest sky at Bortle 4 is about 2 km south-east. On a marginal night that drive matters more than the forecast does.
Where is the nearest place to Streymoy with reliable aurora borealis?
Inverness, United Kingdom — 524 km south-south-east. It needs only Kp 5 and averages 28.7 viable nights a year against 118.7 in Streymoy.
Nearby towns
Forecasts for places within reach of Streymoy.