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

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Aurora forecasts

Northern Hemisphere

The auroral oval is expected to be mainly at or near background levels in the coming days. Some brief, minor enhancements from solar fast winds or glancing slow Coronal Mass Ejections could lead to some high latitude sightings, however, limited hours of darkness at this time of year is likely to inhibit visibility of aurora.

Southern Hemisphere

The auroral oval is expected to be mainly at or near background levels in the coming days. Some brief, minor enhancements from solar fast winds or glancing slow Coronal Mass Ejections could lead to some high latitude sightings.

Issued at: 00:51 (GMT) on Mon 1 Jun 2026

Forecast overview

Space Weather Forecast Headline: Ongoing Chance of isolated Moderate solar flares, otherwise no significant Space Weather expected. 

Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours

Solar Activity: Solar activity is currently Low, with only low level Common-class flares observed in the past 24 hours.

There are currently eight sunspot regions on the visible disc. The majority of regions are magnetically simple with little growth observed in recent hours. A bipolar region in the northwest remains of interest, however it is showing a steady decaying trend and been re-classified as a more simplified configuration. Elsewhere, a mature bipolar region in the northeast, the largest on the disc, has a large asymmetric lead spot, with some decay evident in the small peripheral and trailing spots. Another mature bipolar region in the southwest has a similarly large leading spot, with further waxing/waning of small peripheral spots.

No significant Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) were observed in available imagery. Several CMEs were evident, however these were assessed as having either far-sided, or near limb sources, and thus well off the Sun-Earth line.

Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds, as measured at L1 by ACE, indicated ongoing coronal hole fast wind influence. Wind speeds were Slightly Elevated to Elevated, mostly in the range 450-550km/s, and showed successive peaks near 31/0500UTC and again around 31/1400UTC. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field was Weak. The north-south component varied withing Weak levels, with a tendency for a more prolonged negative spells at the start and end of the period. Geomagnetic activity was generally Quiet to Unsettled (Kp 1-3).

Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: Solar radiation levels were at normal background values.

Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary

Solar Activity: Generally Low but with a chance of isolated Moderate solar flares.

Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: No significant Earth-directed CMEs currently feature in the forecast. However, some weak ejecta from minor events over the past few days could cause transitory enhancements to the solar wind through Day 1 (01 June). 

Ongoing mild enhancements to the solar wind are expected initially, related to faster solar wind streams, with slightly-elevated to occasionally elevated winds at times. Winds should ease for a time into Day 2 (02 June) and Day 3 (03 June), before the next more substantial stream of faster wind becomes geoeffective, perhaps from later Day 3 then into Day 4 (04 June).

Generally Quiet to Unsettled geomagnetic activity is expected, with a chance of isolated Active periods, and a slight chance of G1/Minor Geomagnetic storm periods. The higher geomagnetic activity is more likely at the start and towards the end of the period, in response to faster streams of solar wind or any potential transient CME influences.

Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: Solar Radiation counts are at normal background levels and currently expected to remain so through the period.

Issued at: 00:15 (GMT) on Mon 1 Jun 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.

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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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