Estonia · Aurora borealis
Is the aurora visible in Tallinn tonight?
Right now
Maybe — stay ready.
Kp is 2.0. Tallinn needs Kp 6+ for the oval overhead — right now it’s low on the northern horizon.
Tonight's peak is forecast around Kp 4.7 (Active). The forecast still depends on darkness, cloud and the moon at your exact spot.
Reliable about 30 minutes ahead — cloud decides the rest.
Tallinn needs an active night or a minor geomagnetic storm — it needs roughly Kp 6+ for the northern lights to come into view. Here's tonight's live space weather and how to plan around it.
How to see the aurora from Tallinn
Face north and find a clear, low horizon in that direction. Everything else — dark skies, adapted eyes, the camera trick — is the same anywhere on Earth, so it lives in the how to photograph the aurora guide.
When can you see the northern lights in Tallinn?
Aurora season in Tallinn runs roughly September – March. Here the months that pay off are September, May, and March — the table below shows why. See the full best time to see the aurora guide for the season in detail.
Tallinn by the numbers
Between Sep 1, 2025 and Aug 31, 2026, Tallinn had 365 nights dark enough for the aurora, and the planetary Kp reached the Kp 6+ this place needs on 26 of them. Averaged over 2015–2024 and this location's cloud cover, that works out to about 4 aurora-possible nights a year, most of them in September, May, and March.
| Month | Dark hours per night | Dark nights | Average cloud cover | Aurora-possible nights |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 15.3 h | 31 | 87% | 0 |
| February | 13.3 h | 28 | 80% | 0 |
| March | 10.5 h | 31 | 67% | 1 |
| April | 7.8 h | 30 | 60% | <1 |
| May | 4.8 h | 31 | 50% | 1 |
| June | 1.8 h | 30 | 52% | 1 |
| July | 3.5 h | 31 | 57% | <1 |
| August | 6.5 h | 31 | 60% | 1 |
| September | 9.5 h | 30 | 65% | 1 |
| October | 12.3 h | 31 | 73% | <1 |
| November | 14.8 h | 30 | 85% | <1 |
| December | 16 h | 31 | 86% | <1 |
Sources: the sun's geometry (dark = at least 6° below the horizon), GFZ Potsdam's Kp index 2015–2024 (CC BY 4.0), ERA5 cloud cover via Open-Meteo (the table shows the monthly mean; the estimate counts days that were not overcast). An estimate for comparing places and months, not a forecast — how we estimate this.
Where to watch near Tallinn
Get out of the city lights and find a clear view to the north. These are places near Tallinn that locals and aurora chasers use. Distances and drive times are from the city centre.
Paljassaare peninsula (Väikese Paljassaare bird tower)
This is the northern tip of a protected peninsula inside Tallinn, with the Gulf of Finland open to the north. The city centre and port lie behind you to the south.
The area is listed as open 24 hours all year. Reaching the towers means a short walk on a 550 m boardwalk, and Highland cattle graze there in summer. You are still inside the city, so only strong displays will stand out.
MapLeppneeme harbour, Viimsi peninsula
A small harbour near the tip of the Viimsi peninsula, with open sea to the north and the city glow behind you to the south-west. A local photographer shot the 18 September 2023 aurora here and at the nearby Viimsi lighthouse.
It is a working small-boat harbour with no viewing facilities. Respect private moorings.
MapPakri lighthouse and Pakri cliff, Paldiski
A 52 m lighthouse stands on a high limestone bluff at the north-western tip of the Pakri peninsula. It looks over open sea, far from Tallinn's light.
The cliff area is open around the clock, but the lighthouse tower only opens by day. The cliff edge is eroding: an observation platform fell into the sea in January 2024, and there are no barriers. Stay well back from the edge in the dark.
Map
Local tips
- For alerts, Estonian aurora watchers use Virmalised.ee (aurorainfo.eu), which sends notifications, and the Facebook group Eestimaa Virmalised.
- Around midsummer the sky in Tallinn never gets fully dark. In June it stays at nautical twilight or brighter all night, so faint aurora is very hard to see from about late May to July.
- A clear low horizon matters. Forests make the aurora harder to see inland, so the open north coast near Tallinn is the better bet.
The last big one
: A strong display was seen across Estonia, and people in Tallinn's Kalamaja district photographed it from their balconies despite the city lights.
Sources (8), checked 2026-11-07
- puhkaeestis.ee/et/paljassaare-hoiuala-linnuvaatlustorn…
- news.err.ee/1609104776/northern-lights-seen-over-es…
- visitestonia.com/en/pakri-lighthouse
- visitestonia.com/en/pakri-landscape-conservation-area-an…
- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakri_Lighthouse
- err.ee/1609225122/ka-pakri-vana-tuletorni-ahva…
- timeanddate.com/sun/estonia/tallinn
- news.err.ee/1609447924/northern-lights-more-visible…
Where it’s reliable
