Met Office confirms northern lights to return to UK for ‘once in a decade’ event

Seeing the northern lights so vividly across the nation feels like one of the strangest things that has happened this year.

When they filled the skies over the UK early this year, it’s safe to say that many of us were very perplexed. After that, for a few fortunate people, it seemed to keep happening.

The Met Office has announced that the northern lights will return for a “once in a decade event,” in keeping with that trend.

At this point, they might as well begin paying their rent.
In 2025, the aurora borealis will be more frequently seen farther south than usual due to a reversal of the Sun’s magnetic field.

We are currently nearing the end of the “solar maximum,” which is a change in the Sun’s magnetic field that occurs roughly every eleven years.

In essence, the number of sunspots peaks at that time, and solar flares that produce the well-known northern lights are released.

“We’re currently in the solar maximum phase, which means there’s more frequent sunspots and solar activity in general,” commented Krista Hammond, Space Weather Manager at the Met Office Space Weather Operations Centre (MOSWOC). There will probably be more opportunities to see auroras in the UK in the upcoming months, even though it is impossible to predict exactly what this means for specific Earth-directed solar occurrences.

It is impossible to pinpoint the exact moment when the number of sunspots peaked until after it has occurred, even though we are currently in the solar maximum period, which might last for a year.

This whole “maximum phase” thing means that space weather events, like the worst geomagnetic storm to hit Earth in 20 years back in the spring, are still possible.

The Met Office noted, “Earlier in October, a similar, albeit weaker, event reached Earth, providing aurora visibility as far south as parts of central and southern England and Wales.”

Most scientists concur that next year will see solar maximum, which would increase the area in which the northern lights can be seen.

Additionally, once the phase ends, the Sun’s surface acitivity will progressively decrease in the ensuing years as it approaches solar minimum.

We will continue to observe space weather throughout the solar cycle, even as overall activity decreases, even while the overall number of sunspots will begin to decrease after solar maximum. In fact, during certain solar cycles, the greater occurrences may occur as the Sun returns to solar minimum,” Hammond continued.

In order to minimize any possible disruption to satellite operations or certain ground-based infrastructure, it is our responsibility at MOSWOC to predict these events throughout the upcoming months and years.