Photo: Anders Peter

Northern Lights

When is the best time to see the Northern Lights in Iceland?

The Northern Lights are the visual result of solar particles entering the earth2019s magnetic field at high atmosphere, and ionising. Their intensity depends on the activity of the sun, and the acceleration speed of these particles.

They appear as dancing lights high in the sky and vary in colour, usually being green, but occasionally also purple, red, pink, orange and blue. Their colours depend on the elements being ionised.

Solar activity is not regular, however; even if it is a dark, clear night, there could be absolutely no chance of seeing the auroras, no matter how far north you are. It also means that on a midsummer day, the sky could be alive with Northern Lights; they are simply obscured by the brightness of the sun.

To witness the aurora borealis in all their glory in Iceland requires patience, luck, and the following conditions to be met:

You must be looking between September to April (while they can occasionally be seen towards the end of August, the lingering sunlight makes them very faint)
- The night must be as dark as possible (a fuller moon, for example, will dim the aurora)
- There should be as little unnatural light as possible
- There should be as little cloud cover as possible
- There must be enough solar activity

(Source: Guide to Iceland)

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