Space Weather

Space weather describes changing environmental conditions in near-Earth space. Magnetic fields, radiation, particles and matter, which have been ejected from the Sun, can interact with the Earth’s upper atmosphere and surrounding magnetic field to produce a  variety of effects.

Image courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams

Space weather notifications

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Aurora forecasts

Northern Hemisphere

The aurora is expected to persist at mainly Background levels, limiting any clear viewing opportunities.

Southern Hemisphere

The aurora is expected to persist at mainly Background levels, limiting any clear viewing opportunities.

Issued at: 14:52 (GMT) on Mon 28 Sep 2026

Forecast overview

Space Weather Forecast Headline: No significant activity.

Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours

Solar Activity: Low with isolated small Common-class flares. There is only one sunspot region currently on the Earth-facing disc. This is in the north-west and is comprised of a magnetically simple cluster of small spots with very little penumbra, aside from some limited and rudimentary penumbra on its trailer.

No Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections were observed in available imagery.

Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Mainly slow wind conditions have been observed. Solar wind speeds, as observed by SOLAR-1 at L1, eased from Slightly Elevated at 410km/s to Slow-Ambient at 340 km/s. Interplanetary Magnetic Field, Bt, was Weak. The north-south component, Bz, was Weak and largely negative (southward). Geomagnetic activity was Quiet (Kp 0-1).

Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: GOES-18 >10MeV proton flux was at Background.

Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary

Solar Activity: Solar activity is expected to be Low to Very Low.

Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: There are no Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections. Background slow wind conditions are most likely to persist. A coronal hole may still give a weak enhancement on day 1 (28 Sep), however this is now considered unlikely. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be predominately Quiet with isolated Unsettled intervals. If any enhancement is observed, a spell of Unsettled with isolated Active intervals is possible.

Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: GOES-18 >10MeV proton flux is expected to persist at Background.

Issued at: 12:00 (GMT) on Mon 28 Sep 2026

Solar imagery

SDO AIA-193

This channel highlights the outer atmosphere of the Sun - called the corona - as well as hot flare plasma. Hot active regions, solar flares, and coronal mass ejections will appear bright here. The dark areas - called coronal holes - are places where very little radiation is emitted, yet are the main source of solar wind particles.

Issued at:

SDO AIA-304

This channel is especially good at showing areas where cooler dense plumes of plasma (filaments and prominences) are located above the visible surface of the Sun. Many of these features either can't be seen or appear as dark lines in the other channels. The bright areas show places where the plasma has a high density.

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