{"id":256988,"date":"2025-11-11T15:13:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:13:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/256988\/"},"modified":"2025-11-11T15:13:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T15:13:11","slug":"earth-blasted-by-largest-solar-flare-of-2025-triggering-potential-blackouts-today","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/256988\/","title":{"rendered":"Earth blasted by largest solar flare of 2025 triggering potential blackouts TODAY"},"content":{"rendered":"

The sun erupted in a massive solar flare, the largest of the year, sending a wave of solar activity that could affect Earth starting on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A powerful X5.1-class flare, capable of disrupting satellites, high-frequency radio and high-altitude flights, burst from the sun today.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The flare caused a radio blackout across Europe and Africa around 5am ET, briefly affecting aviation, maritime, emergency, GPS, radar and satellite communications.<\/a>\u00a0<\/p>\n

Space scientist Steph Yardley described the solar activity as ‘not very common,’ noting these extremely energetic particles from the sun are so strong that\u00a0ground-based detectors can pick them up.\u00a0<\/p>\n

‘There have been 75 recorded since 1942,’ she posted on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n

NOAA scientists are monitoring a possible coronal mass ejection (CME), a huge cloud of solar material and magnetic fields, moving at about 3,000 miles per second.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it is headed for our planet, it could trigger a strong geomagnetic storm, disturbing Earth\u2019s magnetic field overnight into Wednesday<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If it is headed for Earth, it could trigger a strong geomagnetic storm, disturbing Earth\u2019s magnetic field overnight into Wednesday. Auroras may appear as far south as Pennsylvania, Iowa, and Oregon.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Power grids, GPS navigation, and HF radio communications could all be affected, NOAA shared in an alert.<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A powerful X5.1-class flare, capable of disrupting satellites, high-frequency radio and high-altitude flights, burst from the sun today<\/p>\n

Officials have issued a G3 Watch, warning that another CME from November 10 may arrive on the evening of November 11 and continue into November 12.\u00a0<\/p>\n

This flare came from sunspot AR4274, which has been highly active in recent days, producing two other significant flares on November 9 and 10.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sunspots are\u00a0temporary, darker patches on the sun’s surface that are cooler than the surrounding areas.<\/p>\n

Officials warned that high-energy particles from the sun are triggering radiation alerts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Passengers and crew on high-altitude polar flights may face slightly increased exposure. Satellites in low-Earth orbit, especially those flying over the poles, are vulnerable to temporary electrical disruptions.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Tuesday’s flare joins a recent series of powerful eruptions from the sunspot, including an X1.7-class flare on November 9 and an X1.2 flare on November 10.<\/p>\n

Solar flares are classified by their X-ray brightness, measured in a specific wavelength range by satellites.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They fall into five main categories, A, B, C, M, and X, ranging from the weakest to the most powerful.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"The <\/p>\n

The flare caused a radio blackout across Europe and Africa around 5am ET, briefly affecting aviation, maritime, emergency, GPS, radar and satellite communications<\/p>\n

\"A <\/p>\n

A stunning close up of the solar flare the moment it exploded from the sun<\/p>\n

Each class represents roughly a tenfold increase in energy, with X-class flares being the strongest and capable of disrupting satellites, radio communications, and even high-altitude flights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Within each class, flares are further ranked from 1 to 9 to indicate their relative strength, with higher numbers producing more intense effects.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Solar activity is expected to stay high because sunspot AR4274 is still facing Earth and is unstable. There\u2019s a 75 percent chance of more medium (M-class) flares, which could cause brief radio blackouts, disrupt high-frequency communications and trigger minor geomagnetic storms, EarthSky<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

There is also a 40 percent chance of another strong X-class flare, which could lead to widespread radio blackouts, interfere with satellites and GPS systems, affect power grids, and pose radiation risks to astronauts and high-altitude flights.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another sunspot, AR4276, could also produce smaller flares with minor effects as it develops.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun erupted in a massive solar flare, the largest of the year, sending a wave of solar…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":256989,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[97,90,124,416,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-256988","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-space","8":"tag-dailymail","9":"tag-science","10":"tag-sciencetech","11":"tag-space","12":"tag-uk","13":"tag-united-kingdom","14":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256988","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=256988"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256988\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/256989"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=256988"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=256988"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=256988"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}