'Strong' solar storm to hit Earth on Monday may pose rare 'triple threat' from space

People across the world may be able to see the Aurora, a light show that is often seen in high latitude areas, this is expected to be seen further towards the equator during the storm

Physicists have predicted the exact time that a solar storm will hit Earth this month.

Data from NASA and the US-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted that the phenomena will impact the planet over the next two weeks.

The NOAA has predicted an 80 percent chance of a major storm hitting Earth on Monday, March 14.

Under their current predictions, there is a 20 percent chance that the storm will impact the UK.

People across the world may be able to see the Aurora, a light show that is often seen in high latitude areas, this is expected to be seen further towards the equator during the storm.

Issues can also be expected for amateur radio and GPS systems, particularly near dawn and dusk.

Dr Tamitha Skov, a space weather physicist tweeted yesterday: "Direct Hit! NOAA & NASA prediction models show solar storm to hit Earth between 12:00 and 21:00 UTC on March 13.

"Impact should be strong! Expect aurora deep into mid-latitudes, amateur radio & GPS reception issues, especially near dawn/dusk, and on Earth's nightside!"

She added this morning: "Solarstorm & Aurora 5-day Outlook: Busy week with a triple threat! A a big solarstorm storm is coming sandwiched between a glancing blow from a previous solarstorm and some fast solar wind."

A relatively weak C-class solar flare blasted from the earth-facing side of the Sun on Thursday last week.

While Dr Tony Phillips of spaceweather.com stated that these flares are usually unremarkable, this one lasted for nearly 12 hours.

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