Solar flares bathe swathes of Europe in scarlet aurora borealis
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Large parts of Europe witnessed a rare spectacular phenomena of the Northern Lights or as they are also known the aurora borealis, which is more synonymous with northern Europe.
The spectacular Northern Lights painted the sky of Central-Northern Europe and was visible in the Alps and throughout Veneto to Emilia-Romagna, but also in the Marche and Tuscany.
For the first time, the aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, graced the skies across a broad expanse of Bulgaria on Sunday evening.
🔵#AuroraBoreale in Italia. Il fenomeno ottico è stato visibile ieri sera anche nel nostro Paese e non solo, come accade di consueto, nell'estremo nord dell'Europa. Social inondati di scatti delle strisce rosse e viola che hanno tinto il cielo pic.twitter.com/xU7EtJqQHn
Aurora borealis for the very first time in Bulgaria. It could be seen in Ukraine, Hungary and Romania too. People are posting mesmerizing, almost apocalyptic pictures tonight. pic.twitter.com/XZNDW9Yv28
The shifting red aurora first appeared in the northeastern part of Bulgaria, before spreading to almost all corners of the Balkan country
According to reports, the northern lights were also spotted in Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Ukraine. There are also photos from Poland and Slovakia. Dazzling green and red auroras were also witnessed in the United Kingdom on Saturday night.
Swathes of Russia and Ukraine were bathed in some of the strongest scarlet and green “northern lights” for years on Monday due to solar flares, according to pictures posted on social media and Russian media.
A very rare natural phenomenon – northern lights (aurora borealis) can be observed in the Ukrainian sky this evening. pic.twitter.com/DdffWQ3vf0
The so-called “aurora borealis” bathed swathes of Siberia, the Urals, southern Russia and Ukraine in green, scarlet and purple overnight.
Pictures posted on social media showed the night sky across Russia shining red and green.
The lights are generated by streams of charged particles from the sun which penetrate the earth’s atmosphere and collide with gas molecules which then release photons of light.
The New Scientist magazine said in September that the northern lights are expected to be stronger this year than for at least a decade due to a surge in activity in the sun.
MAIN PHOTO: A file photo of a long-time exposure of about 10 seconds shows a Northern Light (Aurora borealis) in the night sky, near Lietzen, Brandenburg, Germany. EPA/PATRICK PLEUL
