Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Northern lights in Lyon tonight

Real-time aurora forecast for Lyon (Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes) - latitude 45.76° N, estimated Kp threshold 8.

Kp index

4.3

unsettled

Hemispheric power

North21GW

South22GW

Source: app.pulsar-si.com

Tonight in Lyon

Very unlikely

Based on Kp 4.3 and Lyon's latitude.

Seeing the northern lights from Lyon

Lyon sits at 45.8° N, in the southern third of France. Auroras are rare here: typically a Kp ≥ 7.5 is needed, and the surrounding mountain barriers (Mont d'Or to the north, Pilat massif to the south) complicate finding a clear horizon. The May 2024 storm nonetheless delivered a memorable show, with red columns visible from Croix-Rousse despite the city's glare.

Observation conditions in Lyon

Central Lyon is Bortle 8, which makes faint to moderate auroras (Kp 5-6) invisible. The best observation sites around Lyon are the Crêt de la Perdrix (Pilat regional park, Bortle 4, 65 km south), the Grandes Rousses plateau in the Alps (100 km east) and the Beaujolais hills to the north-west. Avoid the east of the Lyon basin: light pollution from Grenoble and Chambéry is visible on the horizon.

Recent auroras from Lyon

Recent auroras reported from Lyon and its region: 10-11 May 2024 (Kp 9, red and green colours, photographed from Croix-Rousse), 24 March 2024 (Kp 8), 5 November 2023 (Kp 7, reports from the Pilat).

What Lyon asks of the sky

Geomagnetic latitude

47°

28 of 40

Kp index required

Kp 8

2 / 12 months

Dark nights per year

365

365 / 365

Lyon ranks 28 of the 40 cities we track, at 47° geomagnetic. Clermont-Ferrand sits 0.3° higher , Bordeaux follows at 47°.

The threshold to clear here is Kp 8. Twelve months of archive hold 2 nights, the most recent on 19 January 2026, and 48 since 1994. Saint-Étienne and Grenoble share exactly the same threshold.

Lyon keeps full astronomical night all 365 nights of the year, which every city north of the Loire loses for part of the summer.

How to read the Kp index →

Local conditions

Light pollution

Bortle 8 of 9

SQM 18.11 mag/arcsec²

Nearest darker sky

Perrache

2 km · Bortle 7

Kp forecast, next 3 days

Source: app.pulsar-si.com. For an aurora to be visible from Lyon, Kp must exceed 8.

Wed 19 Aug

1.1

Expected max Kp

Thu 20 Aug

1.5

Expected max Kp

Fri 21 Aug

1.7

Expected max Kp

Frequently asked questions

Can you see the northern lights from Lyon?

Yes, but rarely. Typically a Kp index of ≥ 8 is needed for the aurora to become visible from Lyon (latitude 45.8° N). Major geomagnetic storms (Kp 8-9) that reach this latitude happen only a handful of times per 11-year solar cycle.

What Kp index is needed to see auroras from Lyon?

The approximate Kp threshold for Lyon is 8. Below that, auroras stay confined to high latitudes (Norway, Scotland). Above it, they gradually extend southward. A Kp of 9 gives a fair chance, 10 a strong one.

When is the best time to watch from Lyon?

Auroras are a nighttime phenomenon, best observed between roughly 10 PM and 2 AM local time, when the geomagnetic pole is tilted towards the Earth's night side. In practice, peaks depend on when a coronal mass ejection arrives - activity can spike at any hour.

Where around Lyon offers better conditions?

Move at least 40-60 km north of Lyon to escape urban light pollution and gain 1-2 magnitudes of limiting magnitude.

Nearby cities

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