The possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in Rome during New Year’s Eve 2025 is a rare but not impossible event, especially due to the occurrence of specific geomagnetic conditions.
2024 and 2025 represent years of peak solar activity, with a particularly intense solar cycle. This increases the likelihood of phenomena such as the aurora borealis, which may be visible even at lower latitudes than usual, such as in northern Italy, during strong geomagnetic storms.
For New Year’s Eve 2025, a strong solar storm is expected between December 31 and January 1. This storm, caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, could generate visible auroras in several parts of Europe, including northern Italy, if weather conditions permit.
Aurora Borealis in Italy
However, several factors reduce the probability of observing the aurora borealis in Italy, such as latitude (Italy is located much further south than the polar areas where aurora is more frequent), light pollution, and weather conditions. NOAA ‘s Space Weather Prediction Center has issued an alert for a G3-level geomagnetic storm, with the possibility of disturbances to the Earth’s magnetic field. Although a G4 storm (Kp index ≥ 7) is generally required in Italy to see the aurora borealis, similar phenomena in the past have exceeded forecasts, making observation possible at mid-latitudes.
If you would like to attempt to observe the Northern Lights in Italy, we recommend traveling to mountain or rural areas with dark skies and away from light pollution (between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. the sky is darkest). The App for monitoring geomagnetic activity is aurora forecast.
In conclusion, although the aurora borealis could be visible in parts of northern Italy during New Year’s Eve 2025 due to the strong solar activity expected, it is still a rare event and dependent on multiple favorable factors. For greater certainty of observation, travel to polar regions such as Scandinavia or Lapland remains the ideal choice.