How a huge Sun storm has been affecting us on Earth

The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, glow in the sky over St Mary's Lighthouse in Whitley Bay on the North East coast, reaching a G4 level geomagnetic storm, putting on an amazing display in the early hours. The lights are pink and green and reflect off the water, a woman stands next to the water taking a picture with the white lighthouse in the background. — Image caption,
Check out the lights display in north east England

13 November 2025

If you looked out of your window over recent nights you might have seen something incredible - the aurora borealis or Northern Lights.

But what was extra special about the most recent lights, is that it was caused by what might have been the biggest solar storm in 20 years.

The British Geological Survey says it had the potential to be a 'cannibal storm', feeding from another solar storm earlier this week.

The intense solar weather caused some issues here on Earth.

Read on to find out what they were.

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What do the Northern Lights look like from space?
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What impacts did the solar storm have?

A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket stands after a second delay of NASA's EscaPADE mission because of 'space weather' the rocket is carrying two satellites to orbit Mars, at the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Cape Canaveral, Florida. — Image caption,
A Blue Origin New Glenn rocket did not launch as a result of the storm

The British Geological Survey says the storm has also been interfering with communications and satellite navigation.

Over in the U.S, it also delayed a planned NASA space launch.

A rocket was due to take off from Florida carrying twin spacecrafts that are going to study Mars.

However, the extreme solar weather meant the launch could be dangerous, so it was postponed.

Beautiful blue, purple and pink sky caused by the Northern Lights early Wednesday morning

For us Earth-dwellers, we experienced some unusually bright displays.

The Northern Lights are made when solar particles meet the Earth's atmosphere, creating an amazing light show.

When solar storms are raging, the moving glow can be all the stronger.

What is a 'cannibal' storm?

Sun close-up showing solar surface activity and corona.

A 'cannibal storm' might sound pretty scary, but it actually just means one solar storm that feeds off another.

Solar storms are a normal part of our Sun's solar cycle.

They happen when the Sun emits huge bursts in the form of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) - spewing light, energy and solar material out into space.

Earlier this week there were big solar flares. So the British Geological Survey predicted a second storm would feed off this first storm, and be pretty strong.

They predicted that it might reach G5 on the NOAA storm scale, which is the highest a storm can get to.