The sun shows a bit of flare: Stunning image shows explosion so powerful it may damage electrical grids on Earth

By GRAHAM SMITH FOR MAILONLINE
Updated: 03:19 EDT, 18 February 2011

• The largest solar flare in four years may cause spectacular Northern Lights displays over Britain

If your satnav suddenly sends you the wrong way, don’t blame your gadget’s irritating electronic voice, blame the Sun.

Our star has unleashed its most powerful explosion in four years – and as it slams into the Earth’s atmosphere it could play havoc with all sorts of electronics.

The X-class flare, one of three solar flares emitted this week, was accompanied by a huge cloud of charged gas.

Directed at Earth: The sun has unleashed its most powerful explosion in four years - the X-class flare could interfere with our communications

As this hits Earth’s magnetic field in the coming hours, experts warn it could disrupt power grids, satnavs and mobile phone networks – as well as producing spectacular displays of solar lights.

The U.S. National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration said: ‘Ground-to-air, ship-to-shore, shortwave broadcast and amateur radio are vulnerable to disruption during geomagnetic storms.

‘Navigation systems like GPS can also be adversely affected.’

But it is not all bad news, because the blast is set to produce dazzling displays of Northern Lights for the next two nights, which could be seen as far south as the North of England – if the forecast cloud lifts, that is.

The solar storm marks a reawakening of the surface of the Sun, which has been relatively quiet in recent years. The largest of these storms contain thousands of times more energy than the world’s entire nuclear energy put together and speed through space at more than 1,250 miles per second.

Some of the most powerful are expected to come our way next year – leading to dire predictions of communications breakdowns and TV blackouts at the time of the London Olympics.

Bright sparks: Another pair of active regions on the Sun put on quite a show between February 7 and 10. The magnetic field lines above the regions produced fluttering arcs waving above them as well as a couple of flares, while another pair of smaller active regions emerges and trails behind the larger ones

An artist swings burning steel wool above his head in front of the Northern Lights in Norway. Astronomers said there is now a high possibility of seeing Aurora Borealis in Scotland due to the solar flare