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.
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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: 19:33 (GMT) on Sat 30 May 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.
There are currently nine 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 decay trend. Elsewhere, A mature bipolar in the northeast, the largest on the disc, has a large leading spot, with some slight recent development of small peripheral spots to its north and south. 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.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds indicated likely ongoing fast wind enhancement. Wind speeds were Background to Slightly Elevated, 380-460km/s, for much of the period but a period of Elevated, 500-550km/s with peak 576km/s, developed after 30/1800UTC. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field was Weak at first and later, with an extended period of Moderate strength between 30/0400-1930UTC. The important north-south component varied between weakly positive (northward) and weak to moderate negative (southward) levels, with a tendency for more prolonged negative spells initially and again later in the period. Geomagnetic activity was generally Quiet to Unsettled (Kp 1-3) with Active periods (Kp 4) 30/1800-31/0000UTC.
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 Days 1-2 (31 May to 01 June).
Mild enhancements to the solar wind are expected during the period, likely related to faster solar wind streams, with slightly-elevated to occasionally elevated winds at times.
Generally Quiet to Unsettled geomagnetic activity is expected, but with a chance of isolated Active periods, and a slight chance of G1/Minor Geomagnetic storm periods, mainly in response to 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: 00:14 (GMT) on Sun 31 May 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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