Weekend solar storm warning as 'high-speed stream-ejected from sun

dailyrecord.co.uk:

A solar storm is set to batter our planet this weekend as a "high-speed stream" was ejected from the sun. Earth may need to brace itself as it is predicted both satellites and the planet's power grid may be impacted with the region of influence mainly poleward of 60 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.

The warning comes from experts at NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Centre (SWPC) who rank the storm at G1, reports The Express.The scale ranges from G1 which is "minor" to G5 which is "extreme".

Despite this storm being deemed minor, the skies are set to be lit up with beautiful auroras. In their latest forecast, the SWPC stated: "Enhanced circumstances are projected late on January 15 when a recurring, negative-polarity coronal hole high-speed stream becomes geoeffective."Spaceweather.com reports that "minor G1-class geomagnetic storms" are possible on Sunday as well when a "stream of high-speed solar wind is expected to hit Earth's magnetic field.They add: "The gaseous material is flowing from a southern hole in the sun's atmosphere."Arctic auroras could appear as early as Jan 15 in response to a Co-rotating Interaction Region travelling ahead of the stream."Even the weakest of solar storms can wreak havoc here on Earth.At the stronger end of the scale, this is where it starts to get more dangerous.When CMEs collide with Earth’s magnetosphere, “all of that extra radiation can damage the satellites we use for communications and navigation..it can disrupt power grids that provide our electricity", according to NASA’s Space Place site.Low-frequency radio signals can be blocked for hours at a time, and power outages could even last days if the storm directly interferes with power transformers.The SWPC said: "During storms, the