Woman Watches New Year's Fireworks, Distracted by Something Else in the Sky

A woman who was celebrating the beginning of 2025 with some fireworks was blown away when she saw something just as magical happening at the exact same time. TikTok user Jessý, who posts as @geopoteet, lives in Iceland and, like many people around the world, watched a fireworks display as the clock struck midnight on January 1. However, she captured an extra-special treat when the northern lights appeared at the same time, marking a rare sight that has wowed the internet. "I am a scientist, so I do enjoy the northern lights," she told Newsweek.

"When I saw the aurora forecast on the 30th, which called for a direct hit of a solar storm, I reshuffled my NYE plans to not go to the heart of downtown to celebrate, but layer up nice and warm, wade through the snow to a known city overlook, and hope the lights would be visible past the skyline lights and bonfire smog." To her delight, the northern lights did in fact appear and were captured in her video, which has since garnered 1.3 million views on TikTok. In the caption of the viral video, she described the sighting as "genuinely one of the coolest things I've ever witnessed." She wrote: "Hope it's a good omen for 2025!" "The craziest thing happened just before midnight here in Iceland," she wrote in the text overlay of the video as fireworks could be seen lighting up the sky. "Just as the fireworks began to pick up, suddenly… the northern lights came out!" The video then shows the northern lights appearing above the fireworks display. The northern lights are a popular tourist attraction in Iceland, with tours dedicated to seeing them a popular choice for visitors to the island nation in the North Atlantic. According to National Geographic, the lights are also visible in countries such as Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Alaska in the United States. This natural phenomenon appears as curtains of lights moving in the sky. Officially called aurora borealis, the northern lights are caused by interactions between the magnetic fields of the sun and the Earth, according to the U.K.'s Natural History Museum. TikTok users were in awe of Jessý's sighting, with many of them sharing their reactions in the comments section of the video. Amy Anderson commented: "In Alaska too! Nature gave us our own fireworks." "The lights danced here in Alaska too, it was amazingly beautiful seeing fireworks go off with the northern lights as a backdrop," said ClaireLeDo. "The fact that you could see it even tho there was a lot of light shows how strong they were," Sisa_elisa said. Sky wrote: "When you think the fireworks are going super high up until you see this video." "Iceland is in my bucket list and I would do almost anything for that view," said missroda. Has a dream vacation turned into a nightmare? Whether it's a missed flight or lost luggage, we want to hear about your travel disasters. Let us know via life@newsweek.com, and your story could be featured on Newsweek.