An atmospheric phenomenon captured late Friday evening in Ravoire and expected to continue through Saturday night.

A strong geomagnetic storm caused auroras in Switzerland late on Friday evening. The colorful phenomenon could be seen around Ravoire in the lower Walls to the north, according to the federal weather service MeteoSwiss.

The Hubelmatt Observatory in Lucerne announced on Friday afternoon that a dark place is needed to see the auroras expected on Saturday night. To see the spectacle, it recommended an elevated view with an unobstructed view to the north.

The reason for the expected auroras is that there are currently a particularly large number of eruptions on the sun. According to the observatory, two groups of spots on the sun have been constantly producing eruptions over the last few days. Due to the position of the group of spots, these have been ejected in the direction of the Earth. Auroras occur when such solar flares, consisting of charged particles, mainly electrons and protons, enter the Earth’s atmosphere.

The last time a weather camera on the Säntis captured the colorful natural spectacle was last Monday night. According to the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology (MeteoSwiss), auroras are rare. They are normally seen in the polar region.

©Keystone/SDA