STUNNING Northern Lights could fill the night sky over the UK tonight after a powerful mass was splurted from the sun.
A coronal mass ejection (CME) was ejected from the sun and is expected to strike Earth late tonight or in the early hours of Tuesday – and with it there are warnings of possible blackouts.
CMEs are huge explosive bursts of solar plasma and magnetic field that shoot out of the sun.
These can cause solar storms capable of disrupting radio signals, spacecraft – and in serious cases even loss of power.
Experts from the Met Office and the US counterpart NOAA have warned a category 4, deemed severe, is possible from midnight.
The NOAA says the storm could result in “possible widespread voltage control problems”, meanwhile satellites used for GPS systems are at risk of becoming “degraded or inoperable for hours” and radio frequencies could be “sporadic or blacked out”.
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However, there is also a positive side effect in the form of the Northern Lights – aka aurora borealis.
The Met Office says the storm is “likely” to bring aurora across Scotland, Northern Ireland, northern England, and potentially further south.
But visibility will really depend on the timing of its arrival and the weather conditions.
“There is still some uncertainty around the exact timing of the CME’s arrival, but it is expected overnight tonight or tomorrow morning,” explained Krista Hammond, Met Office Space Weather Manager.
“The CME is likely to result in geomagnetic storming, giving the potential to view the aurora.
“However, sightings are dependent on the CME arriving during hours of darkness and clear skies.
“The effects of the CME may linger into Tuesday night, with aurora sightings possible across Scotland, perhaps also Northern Ireland and northern England, where skies are clear.
“This is likely to wane further by Wednesday night, perhaps with some glimpses possible from the far north of Scotland.”
WHAT ARE SOLAR FLARES?
According to Nasa, a solar flare is an “intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots”.
They are our solar system’s largest explosive events.
While they can cause radio blackouts, they also bring Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights, to Earth.
Aurora is the dance between solar particles and the Earth’s magnetic field that makes the upper atmosphere glow.
Solar flares are ranked in classes, with X-class being the most powerful, followed by class M, C and the weakest, B.
For each group, a number from one to 10 – or beyond for an X-class flare – is assigned to to each flare based on its strength.
