Australia, Iceland | featured news

Ask a traveler where you’ll find the most welcoming locals, and you’ll likely see a few nations consistently named. For example,  you’re likely to hear Australia come up a few times. Same with Ireland.

The solar storm that sparked so much debate this week got its second wind overnight, rewarding aurora aficionados from the Arctic to the Lower 48 to Australia. We're almost getting used to great views of the northern lights from places like Iceland (see above), Scandinavia and Russia — but last night's lights were visible from the top tier of the United States as well.