Northern lights dazzle much farther south than normal. Here's what's behind the show

Another in a series of unusually strong solar storms hitting Earth produced stunning skies full of pinks, purples, greens and blues farther south than normal, including into parts of Germany, the United Kingdom, New England and New York City.

There were no immediate reports of disruptions to power and communications.

The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a severe geomagnetic storm alert on Wednesday after after an outburst from the sun was detected earlier in the week week. Such a storm increases the chance of auroras — also known as northern lights — and can temporar...