As night descended across the Earth on Friday, a solar storm suffused the skies with a gorgeous display of aurora borealis, and well, it was jaw-dropping.
For the first time in 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a watch for a “very rare” severe geomagnetic storm, which was upgraded to an extreme G5 storm later on Friday. This is the first G5 storm since 2003, and could effect the power grid, as well as radio communications.
Aurora borealis caused by the storm were expected to be visible from Europe, Canada, and several northern U.S. states. On Friday night, they began to appear.
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Around midnight BST, lights were visible over Europe, spotted as far north as Glasgow, Scotland, across the United Kingdom, and as far south as Switzerland.
The lights were also visible to viewers in Russia.
The aurora australis bloomed over Tasmania and Australia early on Saturday morning in a gorgeous, other-worldly display of colors.
The stunning solar event is expected to be visible to U.S. residents in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut starting around 8 p.m., but will be most visible between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m., according to the NY Daily News.
The geomagnetic storm is expected to last through the weekend.
