Nostradamus and Baba Vanga made some terrifying predictions for 2025 – so, what number of did they get proper?

With the end of the year fast approaching, people are once again becoming concerned with the predictions for the future of so-called prophets.

French astrologer Michel de Nostredame, better known as Nostradamus, who lived from 1503-1566, and blind Bulgarian psychic Baba Vanga, who lived from 1911-1996, have become household names years after their deaths for their forecasts – which, in some cases, appear to have transpired.

Nostradamus, who recorded his prophecies in his 1555 text Les Prophéties, is said to have predicted the atomic bombs that were dropped over Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 while Baba Vanga is credited with foreseeing the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the spread of Covid-19. 

With this supposed track record, it is tempting to take everything that these two figures have said as meaningful – but what about their predictions for the year that’s now coming to a close?

Did Nostradamus and Baba Vanga accurately predict the fortunes and tragedies visited upon the Earth’s population in 2025?

2025 PREDICTIONS: Nostradamus 

England’s ‘cruel wars’ and ‘great pestilence from the past returns’ 

Nostradamus said: ‘When those from the lands of Europe, see England set up her throne behind. Her flanks, there will be cruel wars. The kingdom will be marked by wars so cruel, foes from within and without will arise. A great pestilence from the past returns, no enemy more deadly under the skies.’

England has not been directly involved in any wars this year – though the same can’t be said for the rest of the world. The war in Ukraine has rumbled on while the conflict in Gaza has intensified. 

Has England met with ‘foes from within and without’? Again, there’s no obvious adversary that has launched a largescale attack against the country – but that’s not to say that England has been free from assaults on either its citizens or its infrastructure. 

From the knife attacks in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, and Heaton Park, Manchester, in the autumn to a slew of cyberattacks that brought some major retailers to a halt, England has been subjected to very real dangers. 

While ‘a great pestilence’ hasn’t returned with vengeance as predicted, England is currently bracing for what’s been described as a ‘superflu’ outbreak this winter. 

Conflict in international politics  

Nostradamus also predicted that ‘great powers will clash’ in 2025 and forecasted that there would be ‘a decrease in the influence of established Western countries and the emergence of new world powers’.

This year has certainly seen clashes between ‘great powers’ – only last week President Vladimir Putin claimed he was ready for war with Europe. 

It’s equally difficult to refute the astrologist’s prediction that the West would lose influence in the world. While China’s rise is nothing new, the country’s economic growth continues. 

This year has also seen several examples of China attempting to gain access to sensitive governmental information via spies.

Medical advances  

The ‘great seer’ Nostradamus predicted that there would be ‘significant improvements in illness prevention and treatment’ in 2025, along with the further growth of medical technology.

Scientists’ progress in creating a tuberculosis vaccine this year is just one example of the above while the proliferation of weight loss drugs, including Ozempic and Mounjaro, are bound to play a role in fighting obesity, which is currently considered a major global health risk. 

In another example, medics have also harnessed AI to predict whether a person is likely to develop cancer in the next 20 years, a development which means there are many more opportunities for treatment and, therefore, a greater likelihood of positive outcomes. 

An end to the war between Ukraine and Russia

Nostradamus wrote: ‘Through long war all the army exhausted, so that they do not find money for the soldiers; instead of gold or silver, they will come to coin leather, Gallic brass, and the crescent sign of the Moon.’

The war between Ukraine and Russia began in February 2022. With this in mind, the French astrologer’s prediction about a ‘long war’ coming to an end in 2025 could be seen to refer to that conflict. 

It is true that both sides’ resources have been exhausted and the two nations have suffered very high numbers of casualties. It is too soon to say whether an end to the war is on the horizon but US President Donald Trump has made clear his intentions to bring the conflict to a conclusion. 

The mention of ‘Gallic brass’ and ‘the crescent sign of the Moon’ in Nostradamus’s writings has also led some to believe that France and Turkey (on account of its flag) will both play important roles in ending the war. 

The apocalypse 

One of the astrologer’s quatrains reads: ‘From the cosmos, a fireball will rise, A harbinger of fate, the world pleads. Science and fate in a cosmic dance, The fate of the Earth, a second chance.’

Despite the ongoing depletion of natural resources thanks to the destructive behaviour of humans, the end of the world remains, thankfully, some way off. (We can take some solace in the fact that Nostradamus predicted events until the year 3797.)

Some, however, have wondered if the reference to a ‘second chance’ for Earth indicates the extinction of the human race, which would allow the planet to replenish and regenerate. 

Natural disaster in Brazil 

Nostradamus predicted that climate change could bring about a significant natural disaster in Brazil, which is home to approximately 60 per cent of the Amazon rainforest. 

He said: ‘Garden of the world near the new city, In the path of the hollow mountains: It will be seized and plunged into the tub, forced to drink waters poisoned by sulphur.’

Indeed, while some markers for Amazon degradation have improved slightly this year – for example, some sources report that deforestation and fires have decreased – the picture is mixed, with illegal mining and droughts having an ongoing negative effect. 

2025 PREDICTIONS: Baba Vanga  

Humans to make contact with alien lifeforms 

One of Baba Vanga’s prophecies for 2025, which predicted that humans would make contact with alien life, was directly tied to last Friday’s FIFA World Cup 2026 draw in Washington DC.

Specifically, the mystic’s vision described a UFO that would appear like a ‘new light in the sky’ over the event, allowing humanity to meet extraterrestrials for the first time – bringing the world answers instead of fear.

Moreover, this historic moment was predicted to take place during a major sporting event and people from the around the world would be able to see it, although Baba Vanga never revealed which sporting event this would happen at.

Baba Vanga left no written records of her predictions. Most of the accounts come from her niece, Krasimira Stoyanova, or other followers who documented her alleged visions after her death, and who have been accused of misinterpreting what she said.

During the roughly one-hour ceremony, all 48 qualified teams were randomly placed into 12 groups of four, deciding exactly who will play whom in the opening stage of the tournament next summer at stadiums throughout the US, Canada and Mexico.

While there can be no doubt that the selection ceremony on December 5 set the stage for the next edition of one of the most popular tournaments around the globe, there was no ‘new light in the sky’ that could have been interpreted as an example of extraterrestrial life. 

Still, some on social media have claimed that Baba Vanga’s prediction is accurate, thanks to the passage of the mysterious interstellar object 3I/ATLAS, which will make its closest pass by Earth on December 19.

NASA and other astronomers have concluded that the object is a lifeless comet, but many in the public, including at least one distinguished researcher, still believe 3I/ATLAS could be an extraterrestrial spacecraft.

There has also been speculation that the light in Baba Vanga’s vision could refer to a meteor shower, the Northern Lights, or the expected supernova of T Coronae Borealis Nova 3,000 light years away, which would be visible from Earth. 

Many believers thought this event would take place during the Super Bowl in February, which is one of the most viewed television events annually, but that did not happen.

Earthquakes that ravage the world 

Before she died in 1996, the psychic predicted that 2025 would see earthquakes ravage the world. 

Indeed, there have been a number of deadly earthquakes this year, which have had devastating effects on communities in countries including the Philippines (October) and Afghanistan (August and November).  

Europe rocked by devastating war 

She also predicted a devastating war in Europe that would decimate the continent’s population.

As previously mentioned, both the war between Ukraine and Russia and the conflict in Gaza appear to qualify the psychic’s prediction.