A sunspot has erupted; when can we expect solar storms?

A sunspot erupted at the beginning of the week, leading to a coronal mass ejection (CME) being released into space. This could potentially cause a minor geomagnetic storm as early as December 25, although this forecast is unlikely.

According to scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), as reported by the space weather research site Spaceweather, the CME that left the Sun on December 23 will primarily head south of Earth, which means there is a chance it may miss us. However, they do not rule out the possibility that the ejection could still trigger a storm on Earth in the near future.

Astro-meteorologists also add that active sunspot 3932 triggered a new strong solar flare of class M4.9 on Wednesday, December 25.

"Shortly after the flare, the U.S. Air Force reported a type II solar radio burst. This is a natural type of radio emission caused by shock waves within the CME", scientists say.

The rapid movement of this radio burst indicates that the CME will soon depart from the explosion site, but whether it will impact Earth remains to be seen, as scientists await data from coronagraphs.

As a reminder, earlier "Telegraph" reported on whether to expect frost in Ukraine before the end of the workweek.