Northern Lights could appear after huge solar flare eruptions

By Dean Murray

Brits could catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights tonight after three huge solar flares.

NASA reported a trio of eruptions from the Sun this week - and warned they are causing radio blackouts across the globe.

However, the Met Office said the solar activity might mean people in Scotland, Northern Ireland and northern England get a sighting of aurora borealis on Thursday, June 4.

The weather service said: "The auroral oval is likely to become active later on Thursday evening, with aurora likely to be visible Scotland and Northern Ireland, and a slight chance of sightings from northern England, in response to a potential geomagnetic storm

"The activity may last into Friday."

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NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft, which watches the Sun constantly, captured images of one of the three flares on Wednesday, June 3.

The space agency said: "Flares and solar eruptions can impact radio communications, electric power grids, navigation signals, and pose risks to spacecraft and astronauts.

"This flare is classified as an X1.0 flare. X-class denotes the most intense flares, while the number provides more information about its strength."

Such flares can produce Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (CME), a massive burst of plasma and magnetic fields from the Sun’s corona, the outermost part of its atmosphere.

As well as unwanted disruption, they can also produce spectacular displays of aurora.

The US government’s Space Weather Prediction Center said a strong geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Thursday and Friday, with three CMEs expected to interact with Earth.

They said: "CMEs are likely to interact with Earth and, dependent upon the orientation of the embedded magnetic field, bring Strong Storm levels."