Researchers have noted a huge solar flare which was released from the sun, spewing cosmic radiation into space. However, Earth is in line with the solar flare and our planet is set to be hammered by the solar storm on Saturday, March 23. The storm has been classed as a G-2, which can cause a ‘brown out’ for radio frequencies – making radio communication much more difficult, and can also cause power outages in high-latitude areas.
Northern lights, which are usually restricted to the Arctic Circle, may also be seen as far south on the globe as New York and Scotland.
Cosmic forecasting site Space Weather said: “NOAA forecasters say that moderate G2-class geomagnetic storms are possible on March 23rd when a coronal mass ejection (CME) is expected to hit Earth’s magnetic field.
“The solar storm cloud was hurled in our direction by an explosion in the magnetic canopy of sunspot AR2736, described below.
“During G2-class storms, auroras may be seen in northern-tier US states as far south as New York and Idaho.”
Usually, these storms are not dangerous and most commonly result in northern or southern lights.
However, sometimes the stream of particles can be so huge that it can cause Earth’s atmosphere to expand, as they heat the outer atmosphere of our planet.
As the atmosphere expands, satellite signals make it much more difficult to reach the ground, potentially leading to a lack of GPS navigation, mobile phone signal and satellite TV such as Sky.
Additionally, a surge of particles can lead to high currents in the magnetosphere, which can lead to higher than normal electricity in power lines, resulting in electrical transformers and power stations blow outs and a loss of power.