Northern Lights in Suðurnes

I was called in at the last minute last night for, obviously, a Northern Lights tour. Always willing to spend my Saturday evening with a bunch of hopeful guests, I yessed at my boss and joined the ride.

I was a bit skeptical just before departure: The past two nights had seen very low activity and I wasn't sure we would get to see anything. However, the solar activity levels got higher just before seven  o'clock and it seemed to me that this might lead to something. The weather, though, was quite unreliable and the only spot of clear skies was to be just south of Reykjavik, in the Eastern part of the Suðurnes Peninsula.

Northern lights forecast in IcelandFind the best times and get directions with Iceland’s most accurate Aurora forecast

We started the tour as usual, at about nine o'clock and headed south. For the longest time, the wind kept on blowing on the bus, making horrid noises. As we passed the Blue Mountains region, the wind got up to 20 meters per second and streams of ice just kept crashing on the side of the bus.

We survived, though and reached the South coast of the peninsula which, if certainly windy, was a bit more tolerable. We stopped first by a parking lot besides a couple other busses form some non-distinct competitor. The skies were quite cloudy but we managed to see some Northern Lights directly through the clouds:

.

.

We stayed there for a little while, hoping to see the skies opening themselves, which they gradually did. But at that point, we decided to leave this rather clumsy spot and move a bit closer to the shore. There, the skies were indeed clearer but the Northern Lights did not go stronger:

.

.

We stayed there for maybe half-an hour or so and kept looking North. The Northern Lights started to fade, though and we decided to drive home. It had been a rather cold and windy evening but we managed to see the Lights, though!