A strong outbreak on the sun significantly increases the chances of northern lights in our latitudes.

The weather enables regional observation of the northern lights.

“Blackout”: Strong eruptions on the sun can have far-reaching consequences for our technical infrastructure.

Björn Goldhausen, WetterOnline meteorologist, explains what exactly awaits us.

On Thursday evening there was a strong plasma eruption on the sun. "According to the current status, the eruption and the associated mass ejection took place precisely grounded. Depending on the speed of the plasma cloud, it will reach the earth in the time window from late Friday evening to Saturday evening. The chances of seeing the northern lights in mid-latitudes are increasing significantly and are better than they have been for a long time, "says Goldhausen.

However, the sky is not ideal everywhere to see the Northern Lights. The meteorologist explains the prospects: “Unfortunately, the weather does not play well in all parts of the country. The night of Saturday begins still widely clear. In the course of time, however, dense clouds are already gathering in the west and towards morning it even rains a little in the southwest. From the Baltic Sea to the edge of the Alps, however, the sky usually remains clear. On the night of Sunday the chances of seeing the northern lights dwindle, because then dense clouds also pass through in the east again and again. There, however, the view of the starry sky is now also clear. In the western half, on the other hand, the sky is mostly completely overcast. "

The current outbreak on the sun almost reached a strength of the highest category X. The last outbreak with a similar strength did not occur until the summer of 2021.

It caused the GPS system to fail for around an hour and interference in radio reception for hours.

"Unlike this time, however, the outbreak occurred in the summer at the edge of the sun and was not exactly grounded," said Goldhausen.

Both outbreaks mark the "reawakening sun".

While it was rather quiet on our fixed star until the end of 2019, activity has increased again since then.

The peak of the current solar cycle is expected in summer 2025.

However, experts assume a rather weak cycle.