The Northern Lights may be visible in the UK on New Year’s Eve, experts have announced. The Met Office says there is a three-hour window when the light display may be visible in parts of the United Kingdom – although visibility will be hampered at other times.
In a statement issued today, Monday, December 30, on its website, the Met Office said: “A coronal mass ejection (CME) which left the Sun early on 29 December, is expected to arrive on New Year’s Eve. But, although the Northern Lights may be in place, visibility could hamper any sightings.
“Tomorrow night is expected to be cloudy across much of the UK, though there could be some clear spells in the east of Scotland, northeast England and Northern Ireland from around 18:00 to 21:00. These will likely be transient though with cloud and rain around for many, especially in Northern and Western Scotland.”
In further details on the Space Weather section of its website, the Met Office said a space weather notification would be in place from 12pm on New Year’s Eve until 12pm the following day, Wednesday, January 1.
Using technical language star-gazers will be familiar with, their aurora forecast states: “The auroral oval is likely to remain at background levels initially. However, from 31 Dec, a Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) is forecast to arrive at Earth with a risk of G1-G2/Minor-Moderate geomagnetic storms which could produce visible aurora across Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England. Slight chance of a G3/Strong storm.”
If a G1 storm does happen, weak power grid fluctuations can occur, according to the Met Office’s guidance. There can also be a minor impact on satellite operations, the Met Office says.
Migratory animals can also be affected. A G2 storm would have stronger impacts.
The Met Office says in that scenario, “high-latitude power systems may experience voltage alarms, long-duration storms may cause transformer damage”. When it comes to spacecraft operations, “corrective actions to orientation may be required by ground control; possible changes in drag affect orbit predictions.”
If a G3 storm were to occur, the consequences would be more widely noticed, the Met Office says. Listing what could happen, the forecaster says:
Power systems: “Voltage corrections may be required, false alarms triggered on some protection devices.
Spacecraft operations: “Surface charging may occur on satellite components, drag may increase on low-Earth-orbit satellites, and corrections may be needed for orientation problems.
Other systems: “Intermittent satellite navigation and low-frequency radio navigation problems may occur, HF radio may be intermittent.”
Yet Aurorawatch UK, which issues alerts on possible sightings of the Northern Lights in the UK, currently states simply “No significant activity” on its website.