Aurora forecast / December
Northern lights in Iceland in December
Maximum darkness, minimum daylight.
Around the solstice Reykjavík gets roughly four hours of daylight, which means the aurora window is enormous — you can realistically be watching from late afternoon. The same caveat as January applies: this is storm season, and cloud is the thing most likely to stop you. The upside is that you get many hours of opportunity each night rather than a narrow window.
How dark does it get in December?
- Reykjavík: 15 hours dark enough for aurora
- Akureyri: 15 hours dark enough for aurora
Measured on the 15th of the month — the hours the sun sits far enough below the horizon for aurora to be visible.
What December has actually done
Averaged over 20 years (2006-2025), a typical December gives 72.1 hours of clear dark sky — 15.6% of its 463.4 dark hours. Mean geomagnetic activity for the month is Kp 1.5.
Clearest in December: Kirkjubæjarklaustur (106.9 h), Hella (104.5 h), Reykjavík (92.7 h).
Cloud measured by reanalysis and corrected against Icelandic weather stations; Kp from GFZ Potsdam. How every month compares.
Roads and access in December
Frequent closures; check road.is before every leg. F-roads shut.
What else is happening
Ice caves, Christmas markets and the shortest days of the year.
Every month
January · February · March · April · May · June · July · August · September · October · November · December
Tonight's aurora forecast · Iceland weather map
Somewhere to be while you wait for the month
Step inside Asbyrgi — narrated, and dark enough for the lights when the sky clears.