Shafaq News / A solar storm could cause abnormally large geomagnetic disturbances on Thursday and Friday, the Met Office has warned.

A solar flare ejected from the Sun shot magnetically charged particles and plasma from the Sun’s atmosphere on Wednesday, which will reach Earth late on 23 December.

Sever solar storms can cause disruption to power grids and satellite services, however the most notable effect is typically an increase in intensity for the northern lights.

The Met Office’s Space Weather Forecast warned of a “moderate class flare” over the last 24 hours that could lead to a geomagnetic storm late on Thursday, leading into Friday.

The Sun has been unusually active over the last week, according to the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Weather Network, with several active regions producing solar flares.

While none of them will likely cause much noticeable disruption on Earth, scientists have warned of a so-called solar superstorm in the coming years that could plunge the world into an “internet apocalypse”.

Such an event would interfere with the Earth’s magnetic field, which protects from charged particles emitted by the Sun, known as solar wind.

The Sun’s natural waxing and waning life cycle means that approximately once every 80-100 years, these winds ramp up to an extreme weather event.

The last major solar storms occurred in 1859 and 1921, causing massive damage to the telegraph network at the time.

Source: The Independent