Earth facing powerful solar flares that are highly likely to cause major disruption

It can impact aviation and satellite communication.

Radio blackouts have been reported across Earth after the Sun released powerful flares.

There is a 65% chance of this happening across the planet still and it could impact aviation and satellite communication too.

Blackouts have already been reported over parts of the Pacific Ocean, according to the alert issued by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Other radio blackouts have been tracked by scientists across the globe over the last several days.

Solar flares are also expected in the weeks to come, NASA told DailyMail.com.

A solar flare happens when there is an emission of electromagnetic radiation from the Sun’s atmosphere called a sunspot.

This means radiation is blasted away from the Sun’s surface and depending on where it erupts from, it can launch towards Earth.

Solar flares are also given different letters depending on how powerful they are.

X is the most powerful flare, and this is followed by M and C, with B being the weakest.

It is X and M solar flares that have the power to disrupt communications on Earth.

This is because they arrive which such force that it electrically charges the upper atmosphere.

Dean Pesnell, project scientist at NASA, said: ‘This is the time when you get the most sunspots, and they start getting larger.

‘As AR3738 rotates out of view, the sun may settle down quite a bit, for a couple days to a week.’

AR3738 is a sunspot with a huge, dark region of strong magnetic fields which is causing strong solar flares.

This has all been caused because the Sun is in an 11-year cycle where solar activity is at a peak.

The sunspot is starting to move away from the Earth’s view but an X flare was emitted from it on Tuesday that caused a radio blackout over Europe, Africa, some parts of North and South America and the Atlantic Ocean.

Following this stronger flare some weaker M and C flares have also hit.

These flares are the ones that have triggered the radio blackouts over parts of the Pacific Ocean and also Hawaii and northern India.

Even after this week more solar flares are expected into 2025.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.