icon bookmark-bicon bookmarkicon cameraicon checkicon chevron downicon chevron lefticon chevron righticon chevron upicon closeicon v-compressicon downloadicon editicon v-expandicon fbicon fileicon filtericon flag ruicon full chevron downicon full chevron lefticon full chevron righticon full chevron upicon gpicon insicon mailicon moveicon-musicicon mutedicon nomutedicon okicon v-pauseicon v-playicon searchicon shareicon sign inicon sign upicon stepbackicon stepforicon swipe downicon tagicon tagsicon tgicon trashicon twicon vkicon yticon wticon fm
29 Sep, 2016 00:15

Iceland turns off city lights for spectacular Northern Lights show (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Iceland turns off city lights for spectacular Northern Lights show (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

Street and home lighting were turned off in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, for one hour to allow the world renowned Northern Lights spectacle to be viewed in all its glory.

The lights went out in selected parts of the city on Wednesday night and residents were asked to keep their homes in the dark between 10pm and 11pm to facilitate a clearer view of the spectacular natural phenomenon.

Crazy shit #auroraborealis #northernlights #hallgrimskirkja

A photo posted by Freyja Melsted (@freytschi) on

Needless to say, there are some risks to having a city-wide blackout and the Reykjavik City Council urged motorists in darkened areas to drive with particular caution.

READ MORE: Spectacular drone footage captures Northern Lights over Iceland (VIDEO)

Tourists and locals snapped awe-inspiring photos and videos of the dancing green-lit sky stretching across the capital.

The predicted combination of clear skies and high Aurora Borealis activity meant those who had traveled from all over the world to catch a glimpse of the celestial activity were in for envious views of the famously unpredictable event.

#iceland #northernlights

A photo posted by ZhengFang (@zheng.fang) on

Aurora borealis in #Hella #iceland #aurora #northernlights #polarlicht

A photo posted by Alex Müdespacher (@amuedespacher) on

This isn’t the first time the city council have authorized a temporary blackout to aide Northern Lights spectators. The last time a forecast of peak viewing conditions prompted a city-wide outage was back in 2013.

READ MORE: Lawnmower accidentally triggers Northern Lights alert

There have also been less official efforts to dim the lights. In 2014, in the rural Icelandic town of Kleppjárnsreykir, a well-meaning local man triggered street sensors to shut off the street  lights so tourists could get a better view of the dazzling lights in action.

Although the outage only lasted half an hour the man was reprimanded by police and reportedly promised not to pull the stunt again.

Podcasts
0:00
29:53
0:00
28:21