The Met Office says Northern Lights may be visible in parts of the UK thanks to recent solar activity. The forecast says the aurora may be visible in northern parts of the UK on Sunday, Febryary 23 and Monday, Ferbruary 24.
Solar activity means electromagnetic particles could cause a ‘storm’ of glowing lights in the night sky with Monday and possibly Tuesday most likely to see displays in the UK.
The Met Office Space Weather forecast reads: ” Solar activity was Moderate with three Moderate-class flares.” It adds: “There are now ten sunspot regions on the visible disc. The most notable regions are in the southwest quadrant and in the northwest quadrant. The region in the southwest has shown spot development, increasing in penumbral area, with mixed magnetic polarities in the intermediate portion.
“The region in the northwest developed rapidly at first although this has now stalled, showing some slight decay in its intermediate spots. However, there remains clear magnetic complexity in the trailing portion. The other regions on the disc do not currently appear particularly complex, although the regions near the east limb are still difficult to assess due to the foreshortening here.”
The forecast continues: “There are two main Coronal Mass Ejections in the forecast at present. The first is likely to arrive during Day 1 (23 Feb), with the second likely to reach Earth during Day 2 (24 Feb). Overall, confidence in the CME forecast remains low, however recent observations from Solar Orbiter suggest the second CME could be stronger than the first.
“Wind speeds are currently at background levels. Late Day 2 or Day 3 (24-25 Feb) a weak coronal hole fast wind may occur, with wind speeds perhaps reaching around 400-450 km/s.Geomagnetic activity is forecast to be mainly Quiet to Unsettled, but activity may increase to give a chance of G1/Minor Storm (Kp5) and a slight chance of G2/Moderate Storm (Kp6) intervals on Day 1, this increasing further on Day 2 with G1 intervals likely and a slight chance of G3/Strong storm intervals.”