Science
UK Met Office partners with university researchers to improve space weather forecasting
A 24-hour monitoring team is seeking to refine early-warning systems to safeguard infrastructure like power grids, satellites, and GPS from solar storms.
The short version
- The UK Met Office is working with researchers led by Aberystwyth University to advance space weather forecasting capabilities.
- Solar flares and magnetic disruptions pose potential threats to critical technologies including satellite navigation, power grids, and aviation.
- Forecasters currently face observational gaps, leaving roughly a one-hour window after solar particles reach monitoring satellites to precisely predict impacts on Earth.
Key facts
- The Met Office operates a 24-hour space weather prediction team monitoring solar activity to protect infrastructure like GPS, power grids, and satellites.[BBC News]
- The UK government classifies severe space weather as a risk on its National Risk Register.[BBC News]
- A 2025 estimate by Lloyds projected that a severe space weather event could cost the global economy $2.4 trillion over a five-year period.[BBC News]
- Researchers from Aberystwyth, Northumbria, Durham, and Reading universities are collaborating with the Met Office to enhance prediction models.[BBC News]
- While scientists can spot initial events on the Sun about three days before reaching Earth, observation gaps leave only about one hour of precise lead time once particles pass satellites one million miles away.[BBC News]
What remains uncertain
- Space weather forecasting remains an emerging field, and researchers acknowledge an inability to produce exact impact forecasts due to limited observational data between the Sun and Earth-orbiting satellites.[BBC News]
Sources
- How the weather in space can affect us on Earth - and the team trying to protect usBBC News - Science & Environment