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.
Space weather notifications
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Aurora forecasts
Northern Hemisphere
Aurora activity is expected to be largely confined to higher geomagnetic latitudes.
Southern Hemisphere
Aurora activity is expected to be largely confined to higher geomagnetic latitudes.
Issued at: 03:17 (GMT) on Fri 18 Sep 2026
Forecast overview
Space Weather Forecast Headline: Low solar activity.
Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours
Solar Activity: Solar activity has been Very Low, with only minor B-class flaring observed. There are currently two sunspot regions, both unipolar regions located in the western part of the disc.
There were no Earth directed CMEs observed during the period.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds, as measured at L1 by SOLAR-1, indicated a mixture of coronal hole fast winds and possible minor coronal mass ejection effects. Solar winds speeds started Elevated at 540-550km/s, and around 17/0323 UTC reduced to Slight Elevated. Since then they have stayed Slightly Elevated but seem to be on a very slow downward trend. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field, Bt, was Weak. The north-south component, Bz, was weak and variable. Geomagnetic activity was Quiet to Unsettled (Kp 0-3).
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: GOES18 >10MeV proton flux was at normal background levels.
GOES19 >2 MeV electron flux varied has been at Moderate levels throughout the period.
Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary
Solar Activity: Solar activity is expected to remain Very Low or Low with only a very slight chance of reaching Moderate levels should any isolated Moderate-class flares occur.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Slightly Elevated speeds are expected through Day 1 (18 Sep) with a slow, erratic decline thereafter as the high-speed stream eases.
Geomagnetic activity is expected to be mainly Quiet to Unsettled through the period.
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: GOES18 >10MeV proton flux is at background levels and not expected to change significantly.
Issued at: 00:13 (GMT) on Fri 18 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.
Issued at: