The Sun has experienced a spike in activity in recent days that has seen six or seven eruptions on the surface of the star spit out solar material towards Earth.
The skies over the UK were lit up in a brilliant pink and green from the Northern Lights last night due to a severe solar storm.
The impressive Aurora Borealis, usually only visible from northern parts of the British Isles, was visible across large parts of the UK overnight, including Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and, unusually, southern England.
It comes after America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued its first severe solar storm warning since 2005 yesterday as a huge geomagnetic storm raced towards Earth.
Fears were also raised that the storm could interfere with infrastructure, including the power grid and satellites.
The huge solar storm was created by successive coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that have left space a “mess”, one space physicist told Sky News.
CMEs are when a large cloud of high energy plasma erupts from the Sun, into space, and currently there is a sunspot spitting a number out – aimed right at Earth.
‘Space is a mess’
Ahead of the event, the Met Office told Sky News: “With clear spells likely for many on Friday night, there’s an increased chance of aurora visibility for some, particularly across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England and Wales.
“Given the right conditions, there is the chance it may even be visible further south.”