Northern Lights can now be seen in many places in the Netherlands

NOS News•today, 9:26 PM

The Northern Lights can currently be seen in many places in the Netherlands. This is often the case in the north of the country, although it does not happen often there either. The northern lights are now so bright that they can now also be seen in the south of the country.

Dutch people frequently share images of the aurora on social media. People from Kerkrade, Vlissingen, The Hague, Zwolle, Joure, Hoorn, Amsterdam, Enschede, Roermond and Amstelveen, among others, report that they have seen the light phenomenon. The Northern Lights could also be seen with the naked eye in Belgium today.

People sent us photos of the Northern Lights from various places in the Netherlands.

The fact that the light is visible so south is quite rare, according to NOS weather forecaster and meteorologist Willemijn Hoebert. “To see the light you have to look at the northern horizon,” Hoebert tips. “And you’re lucky that there is little or no cloud cover.”

The northern lights or polar lights are caused by eruptions on the sun. This releases large quantities of charged particles into space. Due to the Earth’s gravitational pull, these particles are mainly drawn to the north and south poles, because that is where the Earth’s magnetic field is strongest.

The charged particles travel through the atmosphere at high speed and collide with each other. This releases energy, resulting in the special colors in the sky. The natural phenomenon can also be seen with the naked eye for a number of days every year in the Netherlands.