Northern Lights Set to Put on a Show Overnight

Northern Lights are set to blanket UK tonight as solar storm that caused a coronal mass ejection from the sun reaches earth and is forcast to create a G3 strong geomagnetic storm.

The Northern Lights are already starting to become visible over parts of the UK this evening as Earth is hit by the solar storm, the Met Office has issued advice on the best way to catch a glimpse by looking north in areas with low light pollution and warns that the best conditions to view the lights are when the sky is dark and clear of any clouds.

The UK could be in for multiple opportunities over the next few nights, with the light show potentially reaching even the south of England on Saturday.

The Northern lights are expected to be more prominent and easy to viewed from the early hours of Friday in Scotland and northern England but unsettled weather conditions across the country could spoil the chance of catching a glimpse.

In darker areas around Penrith some have already spotted the Norther Lights this evening as the effects of the solar storm start to charge the earths magnetic field and build in intensity.


Forecasters with the U.S at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s Space Weather Prediction Center are also highlighting the potential for a severe geomagnetic storm on Thursday (10th October) and Friday (11th October). That storm is likely grow into the G4 class — the second-highest level on the Space Weather Prediction Center's geomagnetic storm scale, which takes into account both severity and potential impacts.  

The Space Weather Prediction Center has only issued a G4 geomagnetic storm warning only the second ever issued since 2005 when the space weather forcasts began

According to Space Weather Prediction Center forecasters, the CME is racing toward Earth at speeds between 2.7 million miles per hour and 2.9 million miles per hour making it the fastest one they've seen heading at the earth in a while.

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