Strong solar storm causes northern lights in Switzerland
Keystone-SDA
A particularly strong solar storm caused Northern Lights in Switzerland on Tuesday night. This was reported by the weather service MeteoNews. It was the strongest geomagnetic storm in over 20 years.
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The natural spectacle could be observed in many regions of Switzerland. Green auroras, which are rare in Switzerland, were also observed.
The auroras were particularly visible outside the fog zones and at higher altitudes. On the Central Plateau, widespread fog and high fog reaching around 700 to 800 metres prevented visibility.
The geomagnetic storm reached level 4 on a five-level scale and could cause disruptions to power grids and satellites, explained Shawn Dahl from the US Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC). The storm began on Monday and is expected to continue on Tuesday, but will lose intensity as the day progresses.
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Northern lights dazzle over Switzerland
Although there had been a storm of the highest level 5 in 2024 for the first time in 20 years, the current solar storm was the strongest since 2003, said Dahl. Back then, a so-called Halloween solar storm caused widespread power outages in Sweden, among other places, and damaged energy infrastructure in South Africa.
According to Dahl, the current storm was triggered by a strong solar flare. Particles emitted during this can disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field, which, in addition to the Northern Lights, can also cause disruption to radio communications, problems with satellites and overloads in the power grid. Northern Lights could also occur in regions where they are otherwise rarely observed.
Translated from German by AI/jdp
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