Storms will not shake the darling buds of May

DON’T be fooled by this languid summer heat, for above our heads a storm is broiling.

A severe geomagnetic storm has been picked up by space observers which has caused a series of solar flares and something called a solar coronal mass ejection – where a billion or so tons of plasma is ejected from the sun.

So far at least four solar coronal mass ejections have been mapped heading in our direction.

In response, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Nasa’s space weather prediction centre, has issued a “severe geomagnetic storm watch” – its first since 2005.

While not quite a moment to don our hard hats and head to the nearest Anderson shelter, such rare episodes do not come entirely without risk.

In particular, a geomagnetic storm can end up damaging infrastructure on earth with power grids and radio and satellite communications particularly vulnerable. One similarly severe event to that recorded this week, in 2003, led to power outages across Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.

For most of us, though, comes opportunity. The “highly elevated geomagnetic activity”, as the space forecasters have termed it, will supercharge the aurora borealis over the weekend.

Back on terra firma, all remains calm and tranquil. The weather this weekend remains the dreamy vision of England in early summer. Plenty of sunshine, a soft breeze and warm nights to sleep with the window open and listen to early-morning birdsong. Even the fiercest of solar storms will not shake the darling buds of May.

For those who are able to stay up late enough, however, there is the prospect of glimpsing a great celestial battle raging in the skies.*

Sunshine is expected over this weekend