These images of the Northern Lights which lit up the sky across France on the evening of New Year’s Day 2025

No need to go to Norway or Iceland to hope to see the Northern Lights. This Wednesday, January 1 evening, hundreds of French people were able to enjoy a wonderful light show, across the four corners of the country, between 6 and 8 p.m., depending on the different locations. On the mountain side, the sky was tinted with pink and orange hues. A phenomenon visible in the Alpes-Maritimes, notably in Valberg, but also as far as the Côte d’Azur, a hundred kilometers away, in Grasse.

In the Jura too, northern lights were visible from the mountain peaks. But also in Doubs, Alsace and Côte-d’Or.

Northern lights observed in the South-West

At the other end of France too, the Basques were able to enjoy the beautiful lights, particularly off the Atlantic Ocean, in Biarritz. As well as on the roof of the Pic du Midi, in the Hautes-Pyrénées.

Last October, the Northern Lights had already crossed the sky above France. It is a natural luminous phenomenon resulting from a solar flare, which unfolds in the sky. The surface of the sun emits particles (protons, electrons and ions) at supersonic speed; this solar emission or flare is called “solar wind”. At the same time, the Earth’s magnetic field creates a natural shield which protects the Earth from the arrival of these solar particles.

The beliefs of the Far North (shamanic, Eskimo, Celtic, Native American, etc.), derived from myths and legends, have attributed these strange celestial phenomena to the souls of deceased ancestors. Some have associated them with bad omens, others have attributed supernatural powers to these apparitions. Since then, science has contradicted all of these beliefs.