Northern Lights Dazzle Ireland: Solar Storm Ignites Skies

The event followed an extreme space‑weather alert issued earlier in the week after a large solar flare and coronal mass ejection (CME) erupted from the sun. The charged particles from the CME reached Earth this evening, colliding with the planet’s magnetic field and triggering widespread auroral activity. The storm reached G3 “strong” level on the geomagnetic scale, allowing the auroral oval to expand far beyond its usual Arctic boundary. As a result, the Northern Lights became visible much further south than normal, with colours and movement reported across multiple regions. The best views occur between late evening and shortly after midnight. Those who travelled to dark, open areas with a clear northern horizon were rewarded with some of the most striking auroral displays. For many, it was a rare opportunity to witness the aurora borealis with the naked eye, a phenomenon typically confined to Scandinavia, Canada or Iceland. With the storm arriving during hours of darkness and conditions remaining favourable in the west and northwest, the spectacle is already being described as one of the most memorable in recent times.