More solar storms are expected during the next two weeks

Scientists at University of Wales Aberystwyth's physics department have been monitoring developments on the surface of the Sun since a major solar eruption on Tuesday.

And a second large eruption on Wednesday night means there is a good chance for people to see the famed northern lights across the skies over the next few days.

The blast hurled a cloud of billions of tonnes of hot gas and charged particles towards the earth at 2000Km per second.

There is a good chance of seeing the northern lights so it will be worth keeping an eye on the sky if there's a gap in the clouds Dr Andy Breen, physicist

Although solar explosions are not generally harmful to people, magnetic storms can knock out satellite links and disrupt TV and mobile phone transmissions,

Another consequence is the Aurora Borealis or northern lights which are normal only seen in the Arctic and are rarely seen in Wales.

Shock wave

Dr Andy Breen, a solar-terrestrial physicist at UCW Aberystwyth said the shock front from the eruption was launched from the Sun at 1100GMT on Tuesday and hit the earth at 0400GMT on Wednesday.

Another major eruption was launched from the Sun at 2040GMT on Wednesday night but that shock wave hasn't hit the earth yet.

'Normal' mass ejections from the Sun take between 40 and 80 hours to reach the earth but this time it took only 14 hours for the magnetic cloud to travel the 93 million miles to earth.

The northern lights viewed from the ground

"Even though the first shock has gone by there's still a lot of material passing by the Earth and the balance between our magnetic field and the Sun is still pretty disturbed," said Dr Breen.

"There is a good chance of seeing the northern lights so it will be worth keeping an eye on the sky if there's a gap in the clouds."

First reports of the first eruption came from Japan, which shut down its Kodama communications satellite on Wednesday after its systems were disrupted.

Only two other solar storms have had more strength.

One of those knocked out Canadian power grids in 1989.

Space weather forecasters believe more solar storms could take place over the next few weeks, which will give people more opportunities to spot the northern lights.