Northern Lights to DISAPPEAR from UK as solar activity plummets to a historic low
Skygazers will have to wave goodbye to the incredible light shows enjoyed in Northern parts of Britain
SIGHTINGS of the Northern Lights in the UK will be wiped out within the next few decades due to changes in solar activity, scientists claim.
These fluctuations could make the Earth more vulnerable to devastating solar blasts and cancer-causing cosmic rays, according to researchers at the University of Reading.
The phenomenal light is one of Iceland's biggest selling points, but the very north of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland get treated to a display every now and again.
Dr Mathew Owens, from the University of Reading’s Meteorology department, led the research. He said: "The magnetic activity of the sun ebbs and flows in predictable cycles, but there is also evidence that it is due to plummet, possibly by the largest amount for 300 years.
"If so, the Northern Lights phenomenon would become a natural show exclusive to the polar regions, due to a lack of solar wind forces that often make it visible at lower latitudes.
"As the sun becomes less active, sunspots and coronal ejections will become less frequent. However, if a mass ejection did hit the Earth, it could be even more damaging to the electronic devices on which society is now so dependent."
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The Northern Lights is caused geomagnetic storms whipped up by solar flares blasting from the Sun toward our atmosphere.
These storms may create beautiful natural scenes, but can prove devastating to human civilisation as we know it, experts have warned.
They wreak havoc on navigation systems and cause entire national power grids to grind to a halt.
US president Barack Obama was forced to issue a chilling warning to the nation in preparation for devastating space weather storms earlier this year.
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