Nostradamus made four chilling predictions for 2026

We're in for a ‘bloody’ year

The reputed 16th century seer predicted many events that would unfold in the future and the same applies for next year.

Nostradamus is best known for his book Les Prophéties, published in 1555, which is a collection of 942 poetic quatrains allegedly predicting future events.

Nostradamus has made a number of prophecies about 2026, but what are they?

Seven months, great war

The specific quatrain reads: “Seven months great war, people dead through evil/ Rouen, Evreux the King will not fail.” It is easy to assign this verse to the war in Russia and Ukraine.

Some claim Nostradamus predicted war in the past, with his words "Within two cities, there will be scourges the like of which was never seen".

This supposedly predicted the nuclear bombs dropped by America on Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War Two.

A great swarm of bees

One of the more fantastical of Nostradamus’ predictions, this line reads "The great swarm of bees will arise by the night ambush”.

According to some of his believers, this may happen next year as the line is assigned to the number 26. But what the bees may represent is unclear, as it is unlikely that a giant swarm of bees can cause any real damage by “ambush”, let’s be honest.

Great man struck by a thunderbolt

According to the 26th verse of Century I, Nostradamus says “the great man will be struck down in the day by a thunderbolt”.

“The great man” possibly refers to a world leader, a celebrity or royalty. And this man will be struck by lightning in daylight, according to the thinker.

A region in Switzerland will overflow with blood

This prediction can be pinned to an exact present-day location. His foreboding line reads:

“Because of the favour that the city will show… the Ticino will overflow with blood…”

According to this Nostradamus prediction, Switzerland’s beautiful Italian speaking region is in for a bloody year.

The blood could symbolise a mass death event, a plague taking over the area, or some sort of natural disaster.

How accurate were Nostradamus' predictions?

What we must consider, however, is that Nostradamus wrote in Middle French and used deliberately vague Latin phrasing.

Add to that the fact that multiple manuscripts, spelling mistakes and various interpretations of his works over the years. This means it can be hard to conclude what the man himself really meant.

Nostradamus' predictions are generally considered inaccurate by academic and historical standards, with alleged successes often attributed to vague, metaphorical language, retrofitting, or mistranslation.

While supporters cite hits on events like the death of King Henry II, critics argue that only a small fraction (around 7%) of his 946+ prophecies are even vaguely applicable to historical events.

And out of nearly 1,000 prophecies, only about 70 are considered to have had some form of fulfillment, while many famous "predictions" are actually misinterpretations, deliberate fabrications, or poetic, metaphorical, or obscure language.

The prediction have common themes too, as they often focus on inevitable, reoccurring events like wars, famine, or the deaths of rulers, making them easy to align with historical occurrences.