We had intense aurora in Berlin, Germany. Green clouds dancing in the sky levels. Started around 22:10 local time or a bit earlier, and at this point there's only a faint red/green glow remaining.
Just spend an hour outsite (Northern Germany, 01:00 MET). Unfortunately nothing to report, neither visual nor on camera.
Maybe I just went to late and missed the show.
I hope you habe more luck in Canada and the US!
I had the most intensely coloured lights visible in the west of Ireland. I've seen them a few times before but never like this. Phones were capturing them in video not just long exposures.
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
There are several apps that do a good job of alerting users. I use "Aurora Pro", which I prefer because it checks cloud cover and lets you set alert thresholds based on viewing probability.
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.
104955 Warning Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning 01.19.2026 14:30
PJM-RTO
A Geomagnetic Disturbance Warning has been issued for
14:30 on 01.19.2026 through 16:00 on 01.19.2026 .
A GMD warning of K8 or greater is in effect for this period.
End time: 01.19.2026 16:00
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)
I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.
Local light pollution normally makes it hard to see with anything short of long exposure, but today it was naked eye visible and regular photos also captured it.
Unless you're in space, a large scale electrical operator, or relying on HF radio there isn't much reason to be interested other than the lights for a G4 (what this is currently classed as).
I'll be going out tonight if this continues into Australian night time hours.
At this strength, I was about to see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.
The peak was originally supposed to be 6-7 hours from now... it's still showing KP 8 here though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It could get more intense.
If anyone is interested in what "G4" means in context, here's the scale: https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/noaa-scales-explanation
We are at kp 8.67. The Carrington event was a kp 9
Looks like we get these for about 60 days for periods lasting 11 years.
We had intense aurora in Berlin, Germany. Green clouds dancing in the sky levels. Started around 22:10 local time or a bit earlier, and at this point there's only a faint red/green glow remaining.
Just spend an hour outsite (Northern Germany, 01:00 MET). Unfortunately nothing to report, neither visual nor on camera. Maybe I just went to late and missed the show. I hope you habe more luck in Canada and the US!
It's pretty subtle right now here in NL but I can still see it with the naked eye. Mostly greenish haze that fades in and out.
Yeah, there were auroras even as far south as Munich. Maybe not as intense, but it's the first aurora I ever saw, so I can't really judge...
Could you see it from the inner city or only closer to the edges?
Also seen in the Netherlands!
I had the most intensely coloured lights visible in the west of Ireland. I've seen them a few times before but never like this. Phones were capturing them in video not just long exposures.
Not sure what the best service is to be alerted ahead of time. Apparently it'll be strong here again at 6am according to some of the apps some random people were waving around.
There are several apps that do a good job of alerting users. I use "Aurora Pro", which I prefer because it checks cloud cover and lets you set alert thresholds based on viewing probability.
I woke up to a notification from aurora pro today, I'd forgotten I had the app. This would explain it
Nice, you can already see some solar flares in Austria again.
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/kleinfleisskees/
https://www.foto-webcam.eu/
Oh wow! https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/20/0000
And up at the top right, left to "Latest" you can skip the time back and forth at 10 minute intervals. And then jump back like 10 images, what a beauty.
You can even see Starlink satellites https://www.foto-webcam.eu/webcam/ederplan/2026/01/19/1820
Those images around 19:00 are amazing. Thanks for sharing.
How rare is this?
G4 storms are ~100 per solar cycle (~11 years).
So roughly 9 G4 events/year on average.
Australian Bureau of Meteorology advisory for visible aurora: https://www.sws.bom.gov.au/Aurora
Are there any resources to track Aurora sightings or predicted sightings?
At the bottom right of that page is a subscribe link, with a number of different alerts and lists to subscribe to.
Is that tonight or last night?
PJM had some geomagnetic disturbance warnings, but did not progress to the alert stage or grid re-configuation actions. So, no US power grid problems.
(All times are prevailing Eastern US time)I've posted on this before, for other warnings. Not going to repeat that.
Thank you, that's a really handy resource. Shared with my prepper friends.
https://emergencyprocedures.pjm.com/ep/pages/dashboard.jsf
Moon should be good too to see Aurora tonight: waxing crescent 1% https://www.moongiant.com/phase/today/
This page looks like an accessibility nightmare. The entire warning text is an image. There is no transcription present for screen reader users. I did not expect this from a government website.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-exper... is better
Looking at the aspect ratio (and working in a bank) it's worse than that. That's a powerpoint slide.
Not like someone with poor vision is going to be able to see the aurora borealis that results
/s
Years ago I was concerned about this and made a plan with my wife for what to do if she was at work.
But now we have a bunch of kids in different schools and haven't updated our plan.
Does anyone have a plan for what happens if we have a really bad event?
A really bad event would be that long-distance transmission lines act like antennas and pick up millions of volts and blow up all the transformers.
I don't know how much you can plan for that other than "if it happens, try to get home", and then all the usual prepper stuff.
For a really bad event that managed to blow a lot of transformers (presumably due to grid operators not seeing it coming) ... well, take up farming.
Buy a bit of extra food and water.
And toilet paper! Rolls and rolls of toilet paper!
First rule of fight club...
Keep a couple days water and food on hand, go up to the pub, have a pint, and wait for this all to blow over.
With how much modern cars rely on electronics, I would not try to drive during such an event.
It’s ok - The Winchester is within walking distance.
Solar flares are only dangerous to very long conductors.
so cancel the limo?
Do you need long exposure to make it visible with a camera? How does that work in the presence of light pollution?
Local light pollution normally makes it hard to see with anything short of long exposure, but today it was naked eye visible and regular photos also captured it.
Tonight I could see the colours without the camera but it definitely stands out more with the long exposure of the camera.
Even with lights in the direct line of the shot you you can get good results - presumably the phone is doing HDR to achieve this.
I wonder if we're going to see an aurora over Seattle tonight?
Hopefully it's clear space weather for Artemis II coming up. I wonder what they do if it's inclement en route?
Weirdly, while the site in question is "blaring klaxons!" there are more "cool night lights!" posts than concern.
Unless you're in space, a large scale electrical operator, or relying on HF radio there isn't much reason to be interested other than the lights for a G4 (what this is currently classed as).
> while the site in question is "blaring klaxons!"
No, it isn't. It clearly says everything is under control but it would be good to keep an eye on it.
We never get aurora in Japan :(
I'll be going out tonight if this continues into Australian night time hours.
At this strength, I was about to see the full display including colors with my naked eye in Melbourne, May 11th 2024. This storm is slightly stronger than that event.
Darn Montreal is still too south. Wish I were in Winnipeg.
It seems that the peak was several hours ago, and I haven't observed any effects from it...
The peak was originally supposed to be 6-7 hours from now... it's still showing KP 8 here though, so I'm not sure what's going on. It could get more intense.
Possible aurora visible through central US tonight
Probably a stupid question, but should I unplug my EV? (UK)
No need. Wrong type of solar event. You might be able to see auroras, though. I saw some a couple of hours ago.
No.