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
Friday 30 Oct (UTC) a Coronal Mass Ejection glancing blow is possible, followed by a solar wind enhancement either late Friday 30 Oct, or more likely early Saturday 31 Oct, resulting in an increase auroral activity. Aurora sightings become likely across northern Scotland, with a chance of sightings across other parts of Scotland and perhaps northern England and similar magnetic latitudes Saturday night, where skies are clear.
Southern Hemisphere
Friday 30 Oct (UTC) a Coronal Mass Ejection glancing blow is possible, followed by a solar wind enhancement either late Friday 30 Oct, or more likely early Saturday 31 Oct (UTC), resulting in an increase auroral activity. Aurora sightings become likely across the far south of New Zealand during the southern hemisphere Saturday and Sunday nights, with a chance of sightings further across southern New Zealand and similar magnetic latitudes.
Issued at: 09:25 (GMT) on Fri 30 Oct 2026
Forecast overview
Space Weather Forecast Headline: Minor Storm conditions Expected Day 2 (31 Oct).
Analysis of Space Weather Activity over past 24 hours
Solar Activity: Very Low with no notable flares observed in the past 24 hours. There are two simple and very small sunspot regions on the visible disc.
No Earth-directed Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) were observed.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: Solar winds remained at Ambient background levels. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field was Weak throughout with a brief increase to Moderate levels. The north-south component was also Weak, favouring a northward orientation. Geomagnetic activity was Quiet.
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: No solar radiation storms were observed with the count rate of energetic particles persisting at Background.
Four-Day Space Weather Forecast Summary
Solar Activity: Very Low or Low activity is expected, with no significant sunspot regions currently on the Earth-facing disc.
Solar Wind / Geomagnetic Activity: A connection to faster solar winds from a coronal hole is expected later day 1 (30 Oct) into day 2 (31 Oct) with Elevated or Strong solar winds likely peaking into Days 2-3 (31 Oct-01 Nov). Through Day 4 (02 Nov) the solar wind environment is expected to gradually decline to Slightly Elevated levels.
Quiet geomagnetic conditions will start Day 1 (30 Oct), before an enhanced solar wind from a coronal hole arrives later on Day 1 or on Day 2 (31 Oct), increasing activity with Active to Minor Storm conditions likely. There is a chance of Moderate storms. Through Days 3 and 4 (1 and 2 Nov) geomagnetic activity is expected to decline to become Quiet to Unsettled.
Energetic Particles / Solar Radiation: No solar radiation storms are forecast with the count rate of energetic particles expected to persist at Background.
Issued at: 12:27 (GMT) on Fri 30 Oct 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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