20/01/2026
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The European Space Agency’s (ESA) Space Weather Office is closely monitoring a notable space weather event, first detected 18:09 UTC on Sunday, 18 January 2026. We are collecting detailed information from our expert service centres.
Further details and updates will be provided here as they become available.
This page was last updated on 20 January 2026, at 14:00 CET.
The event in short
A X-class solar flare was detected on 18 January, at 18:09 UTC. The Sun’s activity recently crossed the peak of its current solar cycle but is still very active.
The solar flare was followed by a coronal mass ejection (CME) observed by the LASCO coronagraphs onboard the ESA/NASA SOHO satellite (see image at the top).
Our models predicted that the CME would travel towards the Earth at a speed estimated initially at 1400 km/s, but the arrival at Earth after 25 hours indicates a speed closer to about 1700 km/s.
High energy particles in the Earth vicinity crossed alarm thresholds. This high energy particle shower peaked in intensity at 19:15 UTC on 19 January 19, 2026, reaching severe levels (S4), placing it at the top of the list of the most intense radiation storms in the GOES records.
The results here on Earth
The shock gave rise to perturbed geomagnetic conditions on and around the Earth. The resulting geomagnetic storm reached the top of the warning scales and has the potential to affect the workload of astronauts in space, and may impact Earth-orbiting satellites, power grids and aviation. Good monitoring of the radiation environment will be critical for the Artemis missions which will carry its first astronauts to the Moon this year.
Infrastructure operators who were informed could activate mitigation actions. Auroras have been observed all over Europe, even at lower latitudes than usual. Continued high levels of space weather activity are anticipated over the coming days.
About ESA’s Space Weather team
ESA’s Space Safety Programme is responsible for the development and management of the ESA Space Weather Service Network which federates European capabilities and builds Europe future space-based space weather monitoring capabilities.
ESA provides owners and operators of critical spaceborne and ground-based infrastructure timely and accurate information to enable mitigation of the adverse impacts of space weather.
Learn more about space weather monitoring at ESA.
About solar storms
During a solar storm, the Sun can follow the following sequence of events, although not all the elements are apparent every time.
When a solar flare erupts, the explosion can release as much energy as a billion atomic bombs. A torrent of electromagnetic waves leaves the Sun at the speed of light and arrives at Earth eight minutes later potentially disrupting short-wave radio transmissions and causing errors in navigation systems.
Following on, a fraction of an hour behind, are high-speed solar particles including protons, electrons, and alpha particles. This radiation can harm astronauts, damage spacecraft and can produce a cascade of secondary particles in our atmosphere that could cause errors in electronic components if they reach the ground.
A flare is often accompanied by a large eruption of ionised gas from the Sun’s outer atmosphere, known as a coronal mass ejection (CME). A CME creates gusts and shock waves in the solar wind, which, if heading towards Earth, can take anything from 18 hours to a few days to reach us.
When a CME arrives at Earth, it stresses its magnetic field, causing a geomagnetic storm. This makes compass needles wander and can provoke damaging surges of electrical current in long metallic structures such as power lines and pipelines. During geomagnetic storms, particles from space find paths to the upper atmosphere, where they collide with atoms and molecules, creating auroras.
The currents injected into the atmosphere not only produce light but can also heat Earth’s upper atmosphere, making it swell and increasing its drag on low-altitude satellites. If a satellite does not compensate by using its thrusters, it can be dragged out of orbit. This effect also has a positive side, as it helps to drag space debris down into the atmosphere, where it burns up.
Note for media
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ESA Media Relations
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