Tonight
Oct 28 - Oct 29
- 5 °C
51 percent cloud cover - 1 °C71 percent cloud cover
- 2 °C86 percent cloud cover
Northern Lights Forecast for Gällivare
Gällivare, Sweden
67°8′2.0″N ⋅ 20°39′10.1″E
Aurora data last updated at
Current local time:
Can you see the Northern Lights in Gällivare tonight?
Aurora activity is expected to be low between 20:00 and 07:00 in Gällivare tonight. Sky will be dark from 17:15 to 05:24 local time. Cloud cover around that time looks mostly cloudy at 35% to 100%. Low activity and cloud cover together may make the aurora difficult to spot.
Can you see the Northern Lights in Gällivare tonight?
Aurora activity is expected to be low between 20:00 and 07:00 in Gällivare tonight. Sky will be dark from 17:15 to 05:24 local time. Cloud cover around that time looks mostly cloudy at 35% to 100%. Low activity and cloud cover together may make the aurora difficult to spot.
Aurora Forecast for Gällivare
Today at 19:00
Low Activity
Cloud Cover:13%
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Low clouds
Fog
Aurora activity
High clouds
Middle clouds
Low clouds
Fog
Hourly aurora forecast for Gällivare
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3-Night Weather Forecast for Gällivare
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Tomorrow night
Oct 29 - Oct 30
- 2 °C
92 percent cloud cover - 2 °C99 percent cloud cover
- 2 °C94 percent cloud cover
Friday night
Oct 30 - Oct 31
- 2 °C
7 percent cloud cover - 1 °C40 percent cloud cover
- 1 °C45 percent cloud cover
Sun & Moon
Sunset
Sunrise
Dark from 17:15 to 05:24 (12 h 9 min)
Current Moon
Waning Gibbous
91% illumination
Refresh to load today's sun path.
Long-Term Aurora Forecast for Gällivare
| Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat | Sun |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wednesday, October 28, 2026. Today. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waning gibbous, 92% illumination | Thursday, October 29, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waning gibbous, 85% illumination | Friday, October 30, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waning gibbous, 76% illumination | Saturday, October 31, 2026. Moderate aurora activity. Aurora score 6 out of 10. Last quarter, 65% illumination | Sunday, November 1, 2026. Moderate aurora activity. Aurora score 5 out of 10. Last quarter, 54% illumination | ||
Monday, November 2, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Last quarter, 43% illumination | Tuesday, November 3, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Last quarter, 32% illumination | Wednesday, November 4, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waning crescent, 23% illumination | Thursday, November 5, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Waning crescent, 14% illumination | Friday, November 6, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Waning crescent, 8% illumination | Saturday, November 7, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. New moon, 3% illumination | Sunday, November 8, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. New moon, 1% illumination |
Monday, November 9, 2026. Moderate aurora activity. Aurora score 4 out of 10. New moon, 0% illumination | Tuesday, November 10, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. New moon, 2% illumination | Wednesday, November 11, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Waxing crescent, 5% illumination | Thursday, November 12, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Waxing crescent, 10% illumination | Friday, November 13, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waxing crescent, 16% illumination | Saturday, November 14, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waxing crescent, 23% illumination | Sunday, November 15, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. First quarter, 32% illumination |
Monday, November 16, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. First quarter, 41% illumination | Tuesday, November 17, 2026. Moderate aurora activity. Aurora score 5 out of 10. First quarter, 50% illumination | Wednesday, November 18, 2026. Moderate aurora activity. Aurora score 5 out of 10. First quarter, 60% illumination | Thursday, November 19, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 3 out of 10. Waxing gibbous, 70% illumination | Friday, November 20, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waxing gibbous, 79% illumination | Saturday, November 21, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waxing gibbous, 87% illumination | Sunday, November 22, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Waxing gibbous, 94% illumination |
Monday, November 23, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Full moon, 98% illumination | Tuesday, November 24, 2026. Low aurora activity. Aurora score 1 out of 10. Full moon, 100% illumination |
LowAurora ActivityHigh
Best Time to See the Northern Lights in Gällivare
The aurora season in Gällivare runs from late August to mid-April, when the nights get dark. Your best chances are from September to November, and again in February and March, when the aurora shows on many clear nights.
- Dark hours
- Chance of aurora
Long-term averages for clear nights, since 1985. Geomagnetic data: GFZ, CC BY 4.0
Every night of 2026 in Gällivare, January at the top: how long it's dark, and the chance of aurora on a clear night.
Northern Lights in Gällivare
Gällivare is an iron-mining town of about 12,000 people, about 60 km north of the Arctic Circle in the far north of Sweden. Dundret, an 823 m mountain, rises about 5 km south-west of the center, and it is where the town goes for the open view: the midnight sun in summer, the aurora from autumn to early spring.
Dundret above the town
The whole mountain is a 52 km² nature reserve. Two roads leave the E45 for it: one to the ski area, and Femmanvägen, a paved road that climbs to a car park near the top of the lifts, close to the Fjällstugan summit cabin from 1958. In winter Femmanvägen is groomed as a ski trail, so the drive to the top is a summer thing; ask locally how far up you can get by car before heading out after dark. On a clear day the summit view reaches Kebnekaise.
The ski season runs from early November to around the end of April. Gällivare is just south of the polar night: at the winter solstice almost the whole sun clears the horizon as seen from the summit, so even December has a short spell of daylight here.
Malmberget and the mine under it
Ore has been mined at Malmberget, 5 km from the center, since the 1740s; LKAB works it deep underground. The mine has undermined the old town, leaving a large pit, Kaptensgropen, that splits it in two, and most of Malmberget has been moved away. Its population fell from 5,590 in 2010 to under 1,000 by the end of 2020, and many people and institutions moved into Gällivare.
Gällivare’s old church, Ettöreskyrkan, was built in 1744 for the Sámi of the area with money raised across Sweden, one öre from every household.
The Malmbanan, the Inlandsbanan and the road to Laponia
The railway station, an 1890s building by Folke Zettervall, is on the Malmbanan, with regional trains to Luleå and Kiruna. The Inlandsbanan ends here and runs only in summer. Gällivare Lapland Airport, about 8 km east of town, has flights to Stockholm Arlanda. By road, Kiruna is about 120 km north and Jokkmokk about 100 km south on the E45.
Laponia lies to the west. The road to Stora Sjöfallet National Park, protected since 1909, starts at Porjus, between Gällivare and Jokkmokk, and runs west past Vietas; the Naturum Laponia visitor center at Stora Sjöfallet covers the whole World Heritage area.
FAQ
Can you see the northern lights in Gällivare?
Yes, from autumn to early spring on clear nights. Gällivare is at 67°N, about 60 km north of the Arctic Circle, so the aurora shows here on ordinary nights, not only in storms. The town has about 12,000 people, so the usual move is out of the streetlights and up onto Dundret, the 823 m mountain on the south-west edge of town.
Can you drive up Dundret in winter?
Usually not to the top. In summer Femmanvägen, a paved road off the E45, climbs to a car park near the top of the lifts, but in winter that road is groomed as a ski trail. A separate road leads to the ski area, where the lifts run from early November to around the end of April. Ask at the ski area how far up you can get by car before planning a night on the mountain.
Is there polar night in Gällivare?
No. Gällivare is at 67.1°N, a little south of the latitude where the sun stays down all day, and at the winter solstice almost the whole sun clears the horizon as seen from the top of Dundret. Nights are still long enough for the aurora from autumn to early spring. In summer the midnight sun is visible from Dundret from about 5 June to 11 July.
How far is Gällivare from Kiruna and Jokkmokk?
When is the best time to see the northern lights in Gällivare?
The aurora season in Gällivare runs from late August to mid-April, when the nights get dark. Your best chances are from September to November, and again in February and March, when the aurora shows on many clear nights. The longest nights, around 21 December, have about 16 hours of darkness.
Can you see the northern lights in Gällivare in summer?
No. From early May to early August the nights in Gällivare stay light, and the midnight sun lasts from early June to early July. The aurora is still there, but the sky is too bright to see it.
What Kp index do I need to see the northern lights in Gällivare?
In Gällivare, you usually need at least Kp 1 to have a reasonable chance of seeing the northern lights. Lower Kp can still bring a faint aurora display low on the northern horizon, but it is less common.
This is based on magnetic latitude, and Kp index is a global geomagnetic index, so treat it as a rule of thumb, not a location-specific guarantee.
Tonight, the NOAA Kp index forecast is 1.3 to 1.7. That is around the usual Kp index threshold for Gällivare, so you might have a chance of seeing the aurora if the sky is clear and dark.