A record number of sales in northern lights tours in North Iceland have been booked for this coming winter. The northern lights are a major drawcard in attracting tourists to Iceland outside of the summer months.

Photo by Olgeir Andresson.

Around 4,000 tourists are expected to visit North Iceland in the hope of viewing the northern lights this winter, ruv.is reports.

According to CEO of the marketing office of North Iceland Ásbjörn Björgvinsson, only around 1,000 visitors booked northern lights trips last winter.

The majority of tourists planning trips this winter are from the States, a group which has not traditionally visited the area in large numbers. Ásbjörn says that British and Dutch visitors also make up a large proportion of this group of tourists.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office recently started publishing northern lights forecasts for Iceland. The innovative forecasting method takes into account three factors, namely brightness, sunbursts and cloud cover, the last of which is the most difficult to predict.

The new section on their website has been launched in Icelandic and English is to follow.

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ZR