“Magnificent”, “fabulous”, “incredible”… The Northern Lights were observed on Friday evening in several places in France, according to numerous publications shared on social networks. “There are northern lights EVERYWHERE in France! Look north! », invited astrophysicist Eric Lagadec on X (ex-Twitter). The phenomenon was even visible in Paris, according to Internet users.
Northern lights have also been observed in Bordeaux, Isère, Puy-de-Dôme, and Yonne.
The Northern Lights are most easily seen through a camera, storm chaser and forecaster explained https://twitter.com/Kevin_Fillin/status/1788981415855440136. But they were also visible to the naked eye this Friday evening, according to several Internet users, notably at Mont Aigoual, in the Cévennes, or in Côte d’Or.
This phenomenon is linked to a solar storm of rare intensity, which is heading towards Earth this weekend. Without commenting on the extent of the area potentially affected by the northern lights, officials from the American Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) invited residents to go out and take photos. “If you’re somewhere where it’s dark, cloudless and with little light pollution, you might see some pretty impressive aurora borealis,” said SWPC scientist Rob Steenburgh. “And that really is the gift of space weather.”
According to scientists, the geomagnetic storm causing this phenomenon is expected to persist throughout the weekend.
