Dance to relight the Eiffel Tower

THE EIFFEL Tower will go dark at 8.30pm today, as Paris marks the WWF’s Earth Hour - and Parisians have been urged to dance at the foot of the monument to restore the lights.

A special surface has been installed at the foot of the monument, on which residents and tourists can dance to create the energy to relight the tallest structure in the centre of the capital.

The Iron Lady is just one of more than 200 buildings in the French capital - including the Hôtel de Ville, Parc des Princes, Notre-Dame and the opera houses - to dim its lights in honour of the worldwide scheme to raise awareness about climate change, Le Parisien reports.

For security reasons, the lights will be dimmed on the Eiffel Tower for just five minutes.

Earth Hour comes two days after the leaders of 30 European cities gathered in Paris to declare their commitment to "clean" policies in the battle against climate change.

Around the country, the authorities in 50 towns and cities have indicated that they too will take part in the ninth annual event. They will join an estimated 7,000 cities in 162 countries that will temporarily switch off the lights at key buildings at the same time.

It is the second time this year that the monument has ‘gone dark’. In January, the lights were dimmed as the city honoured the victims of the Paris terror attacks.

Paris is to host a major conference on climate change between November 30 and December 15 this year.

Photo: mroach