Northern lights in Iceland: best months, the Met Office cloud map and where to go

You can see the northern lights in Iceland from about September to mid-April, on dark nights with clear skies. Iceland sits close to the auroral oval, so activity is rarely the problem; ocean weather is. The single most useful tool is the Icelandic Met Office aurora forecast, whose cloud map shows where the clear gaps will be, so you can drive to them.

This guide covers when to go, how to read the Met Office forecast, the best places near Reykjavík and in the north around Lake Mývatn, and when a tour makes sense. Live odds are on Reykjavík tonight and Mývatn tonight.

When to go

• September–October: the first dark nights and the September equinox. Station records analysed by Guide to Iceland (a commercial site using Icelandic Met Office data) find these the cloudiest months nationwide.
• November–January: the longest nights, and the stormiest weather. Daylight shrinks to about four hours around the solstice in Reykjavík.
• February–March: long nights, a bit more daylight and, in the north, the clearest skies of the season. Our pick for most visitors.
• April: the season fades quickly as nights shorten.

Our own 2017–2025 model data, measured as the share of the night sky that is clear on an average night, puts Reykjavík between 18% and 28% all winter, with no strong best month, and Mývatn between 16% and 29%. In other words: Iceland is roughly equally changeable all season, and flexibility beats timing. New-moon dates for 2026–27 are in our best time to see the northern lights guide.

How to read the Icelandic Met Office forecast

The vedur.is aurora page has two parts:

1. A cloud map for the coming nights, in which white is clear and green is cloud. Step through the hours and watch where the white patches move.
2. An aurora activity forecast on a 0–9 scale for around midnight. The Met Office notes that even 2 (low) can be beautiful and 3 (moderate) dazzling, and that higher values are rare.

Combine it with the live data. Our map shows NOAA's 30-minute OVATION oval over Iceland, and the expert panel shows the solar wind that will arrive in the next hour or so. Iceland keeps UTC all year although it sits far to the west, so solar midnight is around 01:30 by the clock in Reykjavík; the most active spell often comes later than visitors expect.

Where the clear skies are

The Guide to Iceland analysis ranks the southeast and east as the clearest regions and the Westfjords and north coast as the cloudiest. Reykjavík averaged 5.77 oktas of cloud from September to April (7th of 22 places; 0 is clear, 8 overcast) and Mývatn 5.65 (5th), with Mývatn less cloudy than Reykjavík every month from January onwards. The authors note that the overall gap between the two is within observer error. The practical lesson is the same as in Norway: check the map and be willing to drive an hour or two.

Where to watch near Reykjavík

• Grótta lighthouse (Seltjarnarnes): the darkest spot within the capital area, at the city's western tip. The lighthouse islet is only reachable on foot at low tide; do not cross in the dark.
• Kleifarvatn: a crater lake about 30 minutes south, away from lights.
• Þingvellir National Park: about an hour away, with maintained roads and parking in winter. Wide horizons over the rift valley.
• Öskjuhlíð and Perlan: in town, only for strong displays.

Where to watch in the north: Lake Mývatn

Mývatn is about an hour's drive from Akureyri, inland and far darker than Reykjavík. A few minutes' drive from Reykjahlíð puts you in full darkness.

• Hverfjall crater: a volcanic silhouette and a wide horizon.
• Námaskarð and Hverir: steaming geothermal fields. Striking foregrounds, but the crust can be thin over boiling water; stay on marked paths.
• Mývatn Nature Baths: watch the sky from warm water.
• Goðafoss: a waterfall about 40 minutes west.

On a five- or six-night trip, splitting your nights between the south-west and the north spreads the cloud risk over two weather regions. See the Mývatn guide.

Tours or self-drive?

Tours make sense if you do not want to drive icy roads at night, and in Iceland they have one particular advantage: many operators offer a free retry if no aurora is seen. Ask about the policy, the group size and how far they are willing to drive before you book.

Self-drive gives you the freedom to follow the cloud map and stay out late. It needs a car with winter tyres and real caution:

• Check Safetravel alerts and road.is before leaving. Storms arrive fast and close roads.
• Wind can tear a car door off its hinges; hold it with both hands.
• Stop in car parks and lay-bys, never on the road. Many Icelandic roads have no shoulder.

Our post is a northern lights tour worth it? goes through the decision in more detail.

What you will see

At Iceland's latitude the aurora is often overhead or high in the northern sky during active spells, not just a glow on the horizon. On quiet nights it may be a pale, slowly shifting arc that looks greyish to the eye and green on camera; in a burst it can spread into rippling curtains across the whole sky within minutes, then fade again. Bursts of 20–40 minutes with quiet gaps are typical, so once you are somewhere dark and clear, stay. A bright moon over snow will dim faint arcs but not a strong display, and lights the landscape beautifully for photos.

How many nights?

Plan at least three, ideally four or five, and keep the evenings free rather than booking dinners you cannot leave. Iceland's weather is changeable enough that a cloudy evening can clear by midnight, and the reverse.

A simple plan for each night

1. In the afternoon, check the vedur.is cloud map for 22:00–02:00 and choose the clearest area within reach.
2. At dusk, check Reykjavík tonight or Mývatn tonight for darkness, moon and score.
3. Before leaving, glance at the north Iceland sky camera and the live map.
4. Stay out at least an hour after you arrive, and set an alert for the rest of the night.

For photographs, the moving water, lava and mountains make Iceland a gift; our phone photography guide has settings that work there.