Many parts of the UK had a rare opportunity to see the Northern Lights in May 2024, but the geomagnetic storm behind it laid bare a number of weaknesses in domestic infrastructure, the Royal Astronomical Society has said.
Scientists from the Space Environment Impacts Expert Group (SEIEG) identified multiple threats that the storm exposed and has made 14 recommendations to better protect British electricity supplies, satellites, aviation and other critical infrastructure from future space weather events.
The May 2024 storm reached G5 – the highest category on the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s geomagnetic storm scale. While it only caused relatively minor disruption, it highlighted large gaps in the UK’s resilience to more severe events.
The electricity network was of particular concern, as geomagnetic storms can drive electrical currents through power transmission systems, potentially damaging transformers and disrupting electricity supplies.
The team’s recommendations...