A colossal solar flare has erupted and is set to trigger disruption to electrical systems and unusually widespread Northern Lights displays.
The flare erupted yesterday in the middle of the Sun’s visible surface, and follows a run of powerful space weather events which have caused radio blackouts in recent days.
This triggered what’s known as a halo coronal mass ejection (CME), which sends a plume of plasma out of the Sun.
The ejection is set to batter Earth with plasma and magnetic particles at around 4pm today, according to Spaceweather.com.
Classed as an X9.0, the latest flare may be the most powerful one to have been released in the current solar cycle.
Geomagnetic storms usually disrupt navigation systems, power grids and satellite communications.
Fallout from another strong solar flare fired earlier this week caused a radio blackout over a huge area in the Pacific Ocean, including Hawaii.
The Sun is currently at a high point of an 11-year cycle during which its activity rises and falls.
As a result, the UK has seen more of the Northern Lights than usual in recent months – including dazzling displays as far south as Liverpool in May.
Experts believe the recent activity could see fresh displays over parts of the UK over the next couple of nights.
The phenomenon, also known as aurora borealis, is caused by the reaction of gases in the atmosphere with solar storms caused by events such as CMEs.
‘Over the next couple of days, there’s a chance that we could be seeing the Northern Lights, particularly across northern parts of Scotland in the north of England and Northern Ireland,’ Krista Hammond, a space weather expert at the Met Office, told Sky News.
‘This is because there’s the potential to see the arrival of a geomagnetic storm.’
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