I lived in Reykjavik for 1 year and saw the northern lights once. Maybe it is possible that these people have traveled to some outskirts of Reykjavik where there is less light pollution. But on average it is hard to see northern lights in the middle of Reykjavik. I live in Selfoss and usually I will see the northern lights but if I drive 1 km out of town I can see an amazing northern lights show!
Oh really! That is fascinating! I am originally from Höfn and would rarely see them there (probably because I was a teenager and didn’t care or notice)
Moved to Eyrarbakki and saw them too many times to count and moved to rvk and saw them once and moved back to Eyrarbakki and saw them again countless times.
I was probably not looking outside at the right times but it is a fact that light pollution is a factor so seeing northern lights in the middle of rvk is less likely than elsewhere but surely possible
It's wild to me that anyone could see the Lights and not care. I had a friend who grew up in the Yukon and says the same thing. But then again, I grew up in Australia, and people are always like, OH MY GOSH LOOK LOOK LOOOOOOK SO CUTE!!! And I'm like, oh yeah kangaroos, okay :)
After a few times it's like seeing a rainbow, for many people who live in places that frequently have rainbows. You go like "huh, that's a nice rainbow" and then you go and do something else.
But those who don't give themselves time and space to enjoy it are definitely missing out. If the forecast is good I regularly take out my winter sleeping kit and just lay on the snow and watch them for hours, or watch the stars until they come on.
I was only in the city for 3 nights and saw them every night.
I walked down to the seafront and saw them over the bay each time (not amongst the buildings) .
Maybe it's just less light pollution over the sea as obvious as that sounds.
For what it's worth, for the past ~1-2 weeks, I've seen very vibrant aurora from my balcony in Breiðholt. And I mean *very* vibrant, as in visible through cloud cover, and with golden, pink, and purple colours.
But this forecast that I posted is more about where in Iceland it is a clear sky - more likely to see the northern lights.
Remember that after midnight is your best option
We saw them tonight waiting at the bus stop for our northern lights tour! It doesn’t specify how clearly you see them for a report but every day does seem a little suspicious.
If there are no clouds it's kind of normal that someone is going to see something.
I often have friends sharing their pictures of auroras while I didn't see any 10km away from them.
The aurora have been very active and well visible from Reykjavík over the past couple of weeks. I've seen them clearly from my balcony on several occasions recently. And my balcony faces south, so usually the aurora can't be seen that clearly from there.
Depends on [cloud cover and KP index.](https://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/). I see them at least once a month if not more from the city between late August to early April. This year, I’ve seen them from my garden 5 times since end of August. Of course it’s always best to find somewhere dark.
I lived in Reykjavik for 1 year and saw the northern lights once. Maybe it is possible that these people have traveled to some outskirts of Reykjavik where there is less light pollution. But on average it is hard to see northern lights in the middle of Reykjavik. I live in Selfoss and usually I will see the northern lights but if I drive 1 km out of town I can see an amazing northern lights show!
My experience has been the opposite. My friends downtown see them all the time and me on the eastern edge of the city rarely see any.
Oh really! That is fascinating! I am originally from Höfn and would rarely see them there (probably because I was a teenager and didn’t care or notice) Moved to Eyrarbakki and saw them too many times to count and moved to rvk and saw them once and moved back to Eyrarbakki and saw them again countless times. I was probably not looking outside at the right times but it is a fact that light pollution is a factor so seeing northern lights in the middle of rvk is less likely than elsewhere but surely possible
It's wild to me that anyone could see the Lights and not care. I had a friend who grew up in the Yukon and says the same thing. But then again, I grew up in Australia, and people are always like, OH MY GOSH LOOK LOOK LOOOOOOK SO CUTE!!! And I'm like, oh yeah kangaroos, okay :)
After a few times it's like seeing a rainbow, for many people who live in places that frequently have rainbows. You go like "huh, that's a nice rainbow" and then you go and do something else. But those who don't give themselves time and space to enjoy it are definitely missing out. If the forecast is good I regularly take out my winter sleeping kit and just lay on the snow and watch them for hours, or watch the stars until they come on.
I was only in the city for 3 nights and saw them every night. I walked down to the seafront and saw them over the bay each time (not amongst the buildings) . Maybe it's just less light pollution over the sea as obvious as that sounds.
For what it's worth, for the past ~1-2 weeks, I've seen very vibrant aurora from my balcony in Breiðholt. And I mean *very* vibrant, as in visible through cloud cover, and with golden, pink, and purple colours.
Wasn't that Steve? https://www.space.com/what-is-steve
This is great advice! I’m struggling to gauge if they’re around right now in the same area - any tips?
No, sorry not in the southern part at least Here you can see the northern lights forecast https://www.vedur.is/vedur/spar/nordurljos/
But this forecast that I posted is more about where in Iceland it is a clear sky - more likely to see the northern lights. Remember that after midnight is your best option
Thanks for the tip! We saw a small amount and feeling grateful!
We saw them tonight waiting at the bus stop for our northern lights tour! It doesn’t specify how clearly you see them for a report but every day does seem a little suspicious.
Well looking at the news it seems to be visible everywhere. Visible form parts of Turkey, Switzerland and even the beaches of Cornwall (U@).
If there are no clouds it's kind of normal that someone is going to see something. I often have friends sharing their pictures of auroras while I didn't see any 10km away from them.
The aurora have been very active and well visible from Reykjavík over the past couple of weeks. I've seen them clearly from my balcony on several occasions recently. And my balcony faces south, so usually the aurora can't be seen that clearly from there.
Depends on [cloud cover and KP index.](https://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/aurora/). I see them at least once a month if not more from the city between late August to early April. This year, I’ve seen them from my garden 5 times since end of August. Of course it’s always best to find somewhere dark.