From Iceland — City Will Shut Off Streetlights For The Northern Lights

City Will Shut Off Streetlights For The Northern Lights

Published September 28, 2016

Andie Sophia Fontaine
Photo by
Art Bicnick

Due to a predicted high amount of aurora activity tonight, the City of Reykjavík will shut off all the streetlights between 22:00 and 23:00 tonight.

Many of our readers have been awed by the recent spate of aurora activity in Iceland. The Northern Lights have been especially active lately, and Vísir reports that the aurora forecast for this evening predicts a very intense display.

As such, the City of Reykjavík has announced that, in an effort to make this spectacular display more visible to those living in the capital, all streetlights will be switched off from 22:00 to 23:00. This will apply to every neighbourhood in the city.

The actual peak time for aurora activity is predicted to be between 2:00 and 3:00, but the late evening might very well produce some startling aurora displays.

In case you’re not in Iceland and want a taste of what solar particles colliding with the Earth’s magnetic field looks like over Iceland, check out this video taken only days ago:

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