‘Severe’ solar storm expected to come in Earth’s direction

By Dean Murray

The UK has been warned to expect a "severe" solar storm after the Sun blasted a powerful X-class solar flare in Earth's direction.

The Met Office said geomagnetic activity is likely to increase with the arrival of an Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) on Tuesday (Jan 2).

A CME is a massive burst of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona, the outermost part of its atmosphere.

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When Earth-directed, CMEs trigger geomagnetic storms by interacting with our magnetosphere, causing auroras, satellite disruptions, and potential power grid issues.

The Met Office indicated in its Monday alert that a strong G3 category storm is likely, with a chance of a severe G4 storm.

The categories rate geomagnetic storms on a scale from G1 (minor) to G5 (extreme), describing how intense they are and what technological impacts they may have on Earth.

Severe storms can cause spacecraft to experience surface charging and tracking problems, and drag may increase on low Earth orbit satellites, with corrections potentially needed for orientation issues.

Radio frequencies and GPS satellite navigation can become degraded for hours, while impressive aurorae may be seen across the whole of the UK.