Huge solar storm sparks blackouts around the world – and more could be coming

A huge solar storm has caused radio blackouts across parts of the world. Experts revealed the Sun erupted with the biggest solar flare we’ve seen all year on Tuesday with powerful X-class flares unleashed from a new sunspot region known as AR4087. It triggered a strong R3 level radio black out across Europe, Asia and the Middle East – which was the sunlit side of the Earth at the time (Picture: @RyanJFrench/X)

Solar flares are ranked in strength in five classes: A, B, C, M and X. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9. Each class represents a tenfold increase in energy. The most recent one classified as X2.7, which means it places in the most powerful solar flare class, but at the lower end (Picture: @RyanJFrench/X)

So what happened? A blast of X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation came hurtling towards Earth at the speed of light. This caused the upper atmosphere to rapidly ionize, sparking a sudden change in high-frequency radio signals. Then, as a result, this led to communication drops for some radio operators across the region. Right now, where the solar flare came from (the eastern side of the Sun), is at the edge of the star, so our planet is not in the firing line. However, that could soon change as it is beginning to rotate towards Earth (Picture: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center)

Vincent Ledvina, an aurora chaser and PhD student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks Geophysical Institute, wrote on a post on X: ‘This is getting intense, especially as this active region turns closer into view. This same AR just produced an M5.3 flare a few hours ago. What does this AR have planned over the next days … we'll have to wait and see.’ And he was right, as the same area released another massive solar flare, which was classified as a M7.74 (Picture: NASA/SDO / SWNS)

However, although the X-ray and gamma radiation was powerful enough to induce a brief radio blackout, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said there are no further effects expected on Earth. And generally speaking, solar flares do not directly hurt people on the Earth’s surface. Although it can mess with power grids and cause radiation exposure for those in space and in high-altitude crafts (Picture: Shutterstock / Elena11)

NOAA said that ‘flares of this magnitude are not frequent’. So, why is the Sun flaring up? Solar flares are giant explosions that send energy, light and high speed particles into space, Nasa explains. They are usually associated with solar magnetic storms which are coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The frequency of these solar flares increase around every 11 years – at the peak of the solar cycle (Picture: SDO/NASA / SWNS)

But CME’s aren’t a evil thing, they are also responsible for the auroras that light up the sky. Solar flares have been happening more often for a few years now as the solar cycle was coming to its peak. In May 2024, Nasa recorded a ‘barrage’ of large solar flares and CMEs which created the strongest solar storm that reached Earth in two decades – and one of the strongest displays of auroras on record for the past 500 years. The CMEs travelled at speeds up to 3 million mph, and arrived in a bunch of waves that reached Earth, starting May 10, 2024. This created a long-lasting geomagnetic storm (Picture: Getty)