The 'Northern Lights' Will Appear Over The City Of London - With These Spectacular Illuminations

By Will Noble Last edited 35 months ago

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Last Updated 17 November 2021

Will Noble The 'Northern Lights' Will Appear Over The City Of London - With These Spectacular Illuminations

blue, green and pink 'nothern lights' over the city — Dan Acher's dazzling light display is something to behold. Image: Doug Southall

A spectacular show, mimicking the shifting colours and shapes of the Northern Lights, will illuminate the skies over the City of London this December.

'Borealis' appears at Guildhall Yard in the City of London from 11-22 December — and is free to view (although you'll need to book tickets).

the 'northern lights' glowing green above greenwich — Your alternative is journeying to the Outer Hebrides and keeping your fingers crossed. Image: Helen Boast

The dazzling installation uses beams of light travelling through particle clouds to create the illusion that the aurora borealis are directly overhead. (If you wanted to see them in the flesh, you'd have to travel to Scotland at the very least.)

Borealis is the work of Dan Acher, who already put on a Northern Lights show earlier in the year, as part of the London’s Greenwich+Docklands International Festival. (It was pretty mesmerising, as you can see from the images in this article.)

greenwich eerily illuminated by the fake northern lights. a silhouetted couple walks past the naval college — Borealis already wowed people in Greenwich earlier in 2021. Image: Karin Tearle

The light show is part of the Winter Lights season, announced by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan. Other attractions include Anya Hindmarch's Ever After Garden (which opens 1 December) and a free Canary Wharf Winter Lights show, starting in January.

All of the above should go some way to easing the disappointing news that there will be no public New Year's Eve fireworks in central London again this year.

Borealis, Guildhall Yard, free, book ahead, 11-22 December (daily 5.30pm-10pm. Last entry 9.30pm).